Twisted World
by Aria6
Summary: Roxas is a rich young man and Axel is an indentured servant in the Twisted World. See what happens when Axel is bought to be Roxas bodyguard and lover... please read and review! Axel/Roxas
1. Chapter 1

"…" The red haired man folded his arms, looking over the crowd with a tolerant, mildly disdainful expression. They were all rich, or they wouldn't have been here, although you couldn't tell from appearances. No one dressed their best to visit the Twisted World.

"I hate this." The black haired girl beside him muttered, and he nodded thoughtfully. It was never pleasant, being looked at as merchandise. But at least they were the priciest, best merchandise on the market.

Technically, they weren't slaves. They were indentured servants. In a lot of prissy, uptight worlds that would have been considered a false distinction but in the Twisted World it actually had meaning. There were plenty of real slaves on the market, but they could only be trusted as far as the shackles on their necks. An indentured servant, who would take a blood bond willingly, was something else again. The red haired man idly ran a finger along his collarbone, feeling the old scar there. A very faint scar. The healing job had been almost perfect. It was astonishing, really, that he was so unmarked from injuries that should have killed him.

"At least it's a fairly good looking crowd. There's none I'd really object to." He commented, and the girl nodded, licking her lips thoughtfully as she eyed one likely young man. They were bodyguards and concubines, rolled into one. Also assassins and thieves, if that was what their master needed. It was a very difficult skillset to master, so only nine of them were currently for sale. And the prices were astronomical.

He leaned back against the wall, and watched a pair of his friends giving a demonstration of their battle skills on the platform. His turn would be coming soon, and when the battle demonstrations were done, they would change into silks and demonstrate how fetching they could look on a rich man's arm. It was all a little repulsive, in some ways. But he only had to touch that scar to remember where he could have been.

This was infinitely better than a shallow, unmarked grave.

* * *

"I don't want to do this." The newly made sixteen year old boy grimaced as he scanned the room. It was too hot, too loud, and the clash of blades from the platform made him wince. Although he could recognize the skill involved… the fighters were as good as they were good looking. And that was the problem. He wasn't interested in a bodyguard or a whore, and it looked like he was about to get both.

"Be quiet. This is not optional, Roxas." His father, Vexen, ordered and Roxas subsided with a grimace. "You've been a virgin for far too long, and despite your delusions of unimportance you're still my son." Roxas' eyes narrowed.

"I'm your fifth son, dad. And anyone who doesn't think you would sacrifice me in an instant is an idiot-oof!" Roxas gasped as Vexen grabbed his hair, yanking him close. Vexen's own bodyguard watched without comment, a bored expression on his face.

"Perhaps. But I'd prefer they had to work at it to get you. Now, pick one or I'll pick one for you." Vexen let go of his hair, and Roxas pouted for a moment, straitening his blond spikes. He glanced over the slaves… indentured servants… trying to find one he liked the look of. For a moment his eyes settled on a slender, dark skinned boy, hardly older than himself… but his eyes were so cold, like a human calculator. Roxas moved on… he didn't want a bodyguard like his father.

He wasn't sure what made him stop on the redhead. Maybe it was the way he leaned against the wall, as if he didn't have a care in the world. Maybe it was the tall, lanky but nicely muscled build. Maybe it was the odd little tattoos on his cheeks. Maybe it was that fire red hair and the bright, beautiful green eyes… and the amusement in them, as if everything that was happening was a fine joke. Or maybe it was just fate. But Roxas knew that he had found something he liked.

"That one." Roxas pointed at the red haired man, who smiled like a Cheshire cat. Vexen looked him over, unimpressed.

"A bit cocky. But very well, if that's the type you want." Vexen's disapproval couldn't have cemented his choice more firmly if his father had been trying.

"He's the one I want." Roxas said firmly, and met those green eyes again.

Maybe it was fate.

* * *

"That kid likes you." The girl said to him with a small smirk, and he shrugged. "He's cute, too."

"We'll see if he can afford me." The red haired man wasn't getting his hopes up. Because of the odd gifts he had, his price was even higher than most. Maybe even to the point that it would be an obstacle to his sale, but Kilersa and Mongo wanted to get back everything they had invested in him with a great deal of interest. He didn't begrudge them that, but the customers probably wouldn't understand how much effort it had taken to get him through his fear of fire and teach him to master the magic in his blood.

"If that guy with him is who I think he is, he can afford it. And he'll probably like getting the best of the best." He cocked an eyebrow at her, and she shrugged. "He's Vexen. Some kind of high noble, rich as hell, from a class one world."

"Hmm." Class one meant highly technological. That was interesting. His world had been a class three at best. Most of the indentured servants came from class three's, which had a lot to do with why they accepted the servant status in the first place. For some of them, the only thing going on their homeworlds had been starvation. That meant, though, that they all had to be trained to deal with technology. Fortunately, the Twisted World was full of technology from every level. After his five years of training, he was comfortable with all of it.

They were both called to the platform, and began demonstrating their skills to the audience. He wielded two chakram while she handled a claymore with an ease that made the audience murmur in appreciation. Then, when they finished that, they displayed a bit of marksmanship skills on the target dummies. Guns were rarely the first weapon of choice… there were too many ways for magic to mess with non-enchanted ones… but depending on the worlds they went to, they would need to be flexible. The redhead smiled as he easily made headshots on the dummies. He liked guns quite a bit. Then, with hardly a thought, he cast a fire spell and incinerated his dummy. There was surprise in the murmurs then… the bodyguards bought here rarely had a knack for magic. Not that he had a lot of it, but fire was the redhead's element.

Stepping down from the platform to go change, he caught the little blond boy's eyes again, and smiled. He really was cute.

* * *

"Well, that was rather impressive." Vexen said, tone unimpressed. Roxas had to repress the urge to giggle nervously. His father clearly was impressed and trying not to show it, which was typical of him. "I'm tempted to get him for myself." That wiped away any urge to giggle, and Roxas shot his father a look. "Not seriously. But it seems you've made a good choice."

"I hope so." Roxas was still very nervous about the whole thing… especially the losing his virginity part. Technically, he could have just ordered the servant to pretend they had done it, but… Vexen would find out. It would be easier to just do it once, even if he hated it. Although he had trouble imaging he would hate it with that redhead…

Swallowing hard, Roxas tried his best to wait patiently until the bidding started. The redhead was right in the middle, and he blinked at the starting bid. How much? But Vexen seemed unperturbed and met it easily… and someone counter-bid. The bidding was fast and furious, and ended in a victory for his father, although Roxas thought he had spent three times what he had meant to. But then, Vexen hated to lose at auctions. They were quickly ushered into the back to fill out the paperwork and swear the blood oath. Roxas blinked at all the paperwork… this was a real contract, with many conditions. Vexen had already explained the important points, but Roxas decided he really needed to take a copy of the contract to read over himself. It would be boring, but he didn't want any surprises. He met the red haired man's gaze, and was surprised to see… sadness? Hesitating, Roxas stepped closer to him.

"What's your name?" In all the auction, he'd never heard any of the servants referred to by name. It was a deliberate omission… they were property, after all… but it suddenly seemed wrong. The man smiled, his green eyes warming before he answered.

"Axel. What's your name?" His voice was soft, almost caressing, and Roxas swallowed as he met those beautiful green eyes.

"I'm Roxas." He held out a hand, and Axel accepted it. Roxas felt a thrill at the touch of warm skin, the rough calluses on his hands. What would those hands feel like on him?

"Roxas, come here. You need to sign these forms." Vexen said impatiently. They both stepped back, the moment broken, and Roxas quickly scrawled his name on the forms. The blood bond followed, and Roxas grimaced at the primitive magic. But the oldest, most primitive spells were the hardest to break. Still… sharing blood was unpleasant, even mixed into wine. He noticed Axel staring at him, licking his lips, after they finished the bond and wondered why. Did the other man feel something?

Axel, meanwhile, was feeling quite a bit. The bond was one-sided in that regard… he could feel Roxas now, feel his location and general condition. If Roxas was ever in pain, the bond would let him know immediately. It made sense that this part was one-sided… a bodyguard was meant to take pain for his master, not the other way around… but Axel vaguely wished that Roxas could know what he was feeling. It was… nice.

"There." Axel blinked as he felt a quick shove on his shoulder, and looked over to see Vexen. "Now, I have business in the rest of town. I assume you know some interesting sights. Show my son around, then bring him back to the Black Swan Inn. I presume you know where it is?" Axel thought for a moment, then nodded. He'd been there on occasion, despite the expense. Mongo and Kilersa would sometimes take their students there to practice fancy dining… and also as a reward for hard work. Axel had found the whole place absurdly pretentious, but the service and food had been flawless. It didn't quite fit Vexen… Axel guessed the man's taste would run to minimalism… but the service and food probably outweighed that. "Good. Bring him back by eight."

"Yes sir." Axel said pleasantly. He wasn't going to call Roxas sir unless the boy demanded it, but his father was another story. It would have felt wrong to call the cold man Vexen, and he was certain he would have been corrected for doing that anyway. Axel offered Roxas his hand, who frowned but took it, letting Axel lead him out into the street. "So… what kind of things are you interested in?" Axel wanted a place to start in what to show the blond. But Roxas just shrugged.

"Whatever you like." Roxas glanced up at the sky and shuddered faintly. Axel frowned, tilting his head back to see what he had spotted.

"What is it?" He couldn't see anything unusual. "Something wrong?"

"Just… that." Roxas gestured upwards, puzzling Axel further. "You know… the way it goes up like that…" Axel blinked as he suddenly understood, and felt like a fool for not getting it.

"Oh, that! Yeah, you get used to it after a while and then you stop noticing entirely." That was the way the Twisted World worked. The Twisted World was not in any way natural… it was a giant spiral of rock, with large, dark red lights set on the bottom to illuminate the level below. The spiral had perhaps a dozen levels, and the middle levels were most desirable. The very top and bottom were subject to peeling and shifting. "So, is this the first time you've visited the Twisted World?" Axel quickly decided on a destination and led Roxas easily through the crowd, keeping his other hand free and near his weapons like the trained bodyguard he was.

"Uh, yes… where are you taking me?" Roxas chewed his lip as he watched Axel scan the crowd. He was only one man and couldn't do a perfect bodyguarding job, but he was clearly going to try.

"My favorite hang-out." Axel explained. "Have you ever been to an ice cream parlor?" He couldn't be certain. Until he had come to the Twisted World, Axel had never experienced ice cream… his own world didn't have it at all. Roxas blinked and nodded. "This place is the best ice cream parlor… ever. At least, that's what all the visitors say. I've never had ice cream anywhere else so I wouldn't know, but I think it's great."

"You go to an ice cream parlor?" Roxas stared at the tall, red haired bodyguard. Axel cocked his head to one side, looking down at Roxas with a small smile.

"Yeah. There something wrong with that?" He found Roxas surprise quite amusing.

"Oh, no! It's just… I'm pretty sure none of dad's or my brother's bodyguards go to ice cream parlors. I think they go to the bar." Roxas said, a touch diffidently, and Axel grinned as he scanned the crowd for possible threats.

"Oh, I do that too, but I don't want to scare you. Besides, it's way too early in the day for that." Axel subtly put himself between Roxas and a big man who was shoving his way through the crowd, and Roxas blinked as he realized he probably wouldn't have to deal with bullies anymore… Axel would do it for him. He wasn't sure if he was grateful for that or not, but it would be a relief. "If you want, I'll take you to the best tavern in the Twisted World later."

"Please." Roxas wasn't legal for alcohol in his own world, but Axel couldn't know that, and he'd been curious forever. This would be a perfect opportunity to get some adult experiences. That his father might blame Axel for it didn't occur to him at all.

"Here we are!" Roxas blinked at the building. To him, it was like something straight out of the past… an old fashioned ice cream parlor, white and pink with murals of the various cones and sundaes on the front of the building. Inside there were stools and little tables, all in the classic ice cream parlor style. An older man with slate grey hair and a natty uniform with a little white cap was serving the customers, and the place was fairly busy. Axel looked around carefully, evaluating the place for any threats. "So, what flavor you like? This place has everything." Roxas looked at the list of flavors, and thought that wasn't an exaggeration. He'd never seen so many different types in one place.

"Um… do they have salty sweet ice cream?" Roxas asked, and Axel quickly checked the listings with the ease of long practice.

"They surely do. I've never tried that. Is it any good?" Axel asked curiously, and Roxas grinned.

"It's the best! Get that." Axel shrugged with a smile, and when they reached the front of the queue, ordered two large bowls of the salty sweet ice cream. There were no tables available, so they carried the waffle bowls outside to eat the ice cream and lean against the building, watching the crowd going by.

"Axel?" Roxas said as he licked his spoon before taking another spoonful of his ice cream. "Um… can you tell me a bit about this place? I mean… it's not natural." That was blindingly obvious. A spiral world simply couldn't be natural… and the whole Twisted World was the size of a very large city, not a real world.

"Oh sure. It's artificial alright. It was made by Ya Tashra. He's a wizard so powerful he borders on being a demi-god. See, he's got a bug up his ass about the prohibitions a lot of wizards try to put in place about moving people and goods between worlds and shadow universes. He believes that the universe is self correcting, and as long as we don't move really massive amounts of things around, everything just rights itself. Apparently, he's written a lot of treatise about it and makes a good argument, but there's not much data." Axel gestured at the sky above them, and the underside of the next level. "So he made this place to be a hub. There are hundreds of portals here, reaching all kinds of different worlds and shadow universes. They say that Ya Tashra monitors everything that comes in and out and the effect it has on the universe."

"So this place is a huge science experiment?" That was an unpalatable thought to Roxas, but Axel grinned.

"Pretty much! But don't mention that to him, I think he'd call it a MAGIC experiment." Roxas snorted at the semantics. If magic used math, in his mind it was just another kind of science. Axel paused to nip off a chunk of his waffle bowl. "Mmm, tasty. This ice cream is great, I'll have to remember the flavor."

"Mmm." They ate in silence for a while, just enjoying the ice cream and the people watching. To Axel, that was old hat, but to Roxas it was fascinating. There was everything in the crowd from faeries to talking animals. A pair of hyenas sauntered casually through the crowd, chatting and wearing little boxes on their necks that he presumed were translators. He wondered what they used for munny. Surely hyenas didn't carry munny around?

Axel finished his ice cream and bowl, and just watched Roxas, in between scanning the surroundings. Roxas blushed faintly under Axel's gaze, and he smiled slightly, enjoying how cute his new master was. That spiky blond hair made him want to run his fingers through it… although it wasn't really a proper thought for a bodyguard or a courtesan. But maybe Roxas would like it.

"So, Roxas… do you like pets?" Axel suddenly asked, and Roxas shook his head. "Hmm. How about toys?"

"I'm not a child, Axel." Roxas said with a frown, and Axel shrugged.

"Not saying you are. But there's a really spectacular pet store and a really cool toy store not far from here. A lot of the toys are magical, and there's a whole adult section, so if you want to see cool stuff it might be worth looking at." Axel smiled, a touch nostalgically. "When I first got here a friend showed me the toy store, and they had to pull me out with a pry bar."

"How old were you when you came here?" That made Roxas curious. Axel hesitated a moment, then shrugged.

"Fourteen. I'm nineteen now. Just hit my full growth last year." That had been when his growth spurt finally stopped, to everyone's relief. He'd been outgrowing clothes at a record pace.

"Oh. You look older." Roxas was a little surprised. He had put Axel at twenty-two, maybe twenty-five. Axel grinned.

"Gee, thanks!" He teased, and Roxas blushed. "No worries… c'mon, let me show you that toy store." Kid or not, he was sure Roxas would like it.

He was right. Roxas stared at the old fashioned trains running in their rails along the walls of the shop. Little wooden horses danced and played in a pen, hand painted porcelain dolls lined the walls, and a beautifully made rocking horse creaked in a corner. Everywhere they looked, there were more toys… and they were almost all hand made. This wasn't the place for cheap toys, although it had plenty of toys that were meant to be used. It was the place for toys that had been made with love and care.

"Who makes these?" Roxas said reverently, touching a beautiful little porcelain doll. In his world, the most precious commodity was… people. Almost all toys were simply replicated plastic, which was good but had none of the beauty of these toys. Axel smiled, glancing around.

"A lot of people on class three worlds. Non-technological." He clarified at Roxas frown. "They're pretty heavy magical, most of them, and labor is cheap."

"Oh, I see… oh!" Roxas beamed as he found a display of kaleidoscopes. They were made of bronze, with intricate glass panels to make the patterns when spun. "These are beautiful Axel."

"Aren't they?" Axel sighed… he'd lusted after everything in the store the first time he'd seen it, but the kaleidoscopes had been a particular favorite. "Too bad the light here is so dim. Can't really get the most out of them." That had stopped him from saving up for one. Well, that and the fact that they were too expensive. Roxas looked at the price and smiled.

"I'll get you one, how's that?" Axel blinked, shocked by the suggestion. "And one for myself… this is a really great price. I could probably resell them for more at my school." That made Axel's jaw drop a little. Were the prices really that different?

"No wonder people do a lot of trading here…" He muttered to himself, then shrugged with a smile. "You don't have to Roxas." He wasn't fourteen anymore and while he would enjoy a kaleidoscope, he wasn't going to die without one.

"I want to." Roxas said firmly, paying for the scopes. "Did you say something about an adult section?" He was curious about that. Axel grinned like a naughty boy.

"Yeah… but it's the kind of stuff you might find embarrassing. All hand made with leather and blown glass but… yeah." Roxas looked puzzled and Axel realized he would have to spell it out. "You know, like… leashes… and stuff." Roxas' eyes widened and he blushed.

"We can skip that." He said firmly, and Axel found he was slightly disappointed. "Why don't you show me your bar?" Axel checked his watch for the time, and nodded.

"They just opened. Sure, why not?" It was early, but they could always spend a fair amount of time at the tavern, soaking up the ambience. It required a lot of soaking to get the full impact of the World's End Tavern.


	2. World's End Tavern

"Stop being such a wuss." Axel muttered to the man lying on the table nearby. He was getting his back tattooed by a druid and being a total weenie about it, in the redhead's opinion. The whimpering was distracting.

The atmosphere in the World's End Tavern had almost chased Roxas out before they had got in, but the kid had persevered. Smoke from a dozen different leafs and herbs curled through the room, mixing with the odor of unwashed bodies and wet fur to create a subtle miasma that no cleaning would ever remove. Axel hardly even noticed it anymore, but Roxas was trying to breath through his mouth as he looked around, wide eyed.

"They say this place has been around since the day Ya Tashra made the Twisted World. They say it appeared overnight, no builders needed." Axel took a deep drink from his glass of beer, then shrugged. "Of course, they keep spotting Elvis too so maybe not. But it's been here a long time."

"Who's Elvis?" Roxas muttered, still trying to come to grips with the ambience. The tavern was very dark, and the décor was mostly battered tables that were clearly meant to stand up to a lot of abuse, and the long bar that was just as battered. Hundreds of bottles were on the wall behind the bartenders, who were busy doling out the contents. The World's End Tavern was huge and busy. There were portraits on the walls… rather disturbing ones. After glancing at a few, Roxas had decided not to look. They were all abstract patterns, but when you looked at them long enough they seemed to hint at beautiful and terrible things just waiting to happen. What really made the ambience, though, was the people. It looked like every sort of ruffian, freebooter and general traveler could be found here. For a moment, Roxas watched a pair of samurai who were engaged in a game of go as they sipped their sake. Then he glanced at the bar, and noticed an Edwardian gentleman, complete with top hat and waistcoat. He was speaking animatedly to the man beside him, who was wearing leathers similar to Axel's. Roxas wondered if he was a bodyguard too. There was a small group of very hairy men in one of the corners of the room, and Roxas winced as they howled along with the music on occasion. And that was only a small sampling of the oddities on display.

"Dunno. Some kind of famous guy, apparently. Everyone keeps saying they've seen him but he's supposed to be dead." Axel shrugged, not really interested, then looked up with a blink as someone stopped by their table.

"Oi, Axel!" It was the man with the Edwardian gentleman, and Roxas tilted his head… he had red hair like Axel, although his eyes were hazel. Briefly, Roxas wondered if they were related. "How are you doing? And who's this?" Hazel eyes ran over Roxas briefly, and he blushed. "You got a new friend Axel?" He said with a smirk.

"This is my new master, Roxas. So be polite. I know it hurts Rude, but you can do it." Axel said encouragingly, and Rude threw back his head with a laugh.

"Someone finally bought your sad ass? Hah! Poor child has no idea what he's getting into." Axel snorted and shook his head.

"You're just jealous… speaking of which, how are things going with you and the good doctor lately?" Rude grinned.

"Excellently well. We just finished a trip to a shadow world where the natives tried to eat us and we angered a thunder god. Luckily, we managed to get him by the short and curlies but I don't think we can ever go back. Still, got some lovely samples out of it. We're heading home for a break then off again."

"You realize you're starting to sound like Rufus?" Axel commented, and Rude snorted.

"Bite me, Axel. No, actually, bite this." Axel blinked as Rude put a jar on the table. "Date wine. It's a bit chewy but interesting, thought you might like to have a taste since you like the sweet stuff. Later, fire breath." Rude walked back to his companion as Axel looked at the wine thoughtfully, then shrugged and tried to pour himself a glass. It didn't pour as much as ooze.

"Chewy wine? Good grief. Will I need a knife?" He muttered as Roxas laughed. Axel smiled at him and shrugged, trying it and blinking. "…Sweet! And strong." He licked his lips thoughtfully. "But not bad."

"Can I try?" Roxas was starting to feel a bit warm from the beer, but wanted to try some other things as well. Axel smiled and pushed him a glass.

"Sure." Roxas sipped the wine and blinked. It was very strong and very sweet. He tried a larger mouthful, enjoying it.

"Is there anything else we could try?" He was feeling adventurous now. "What do you usually drink?" Axel blinked.

"Me? Uh… to be honest, I usually drink Demon's Tears. It's a bit hot though, you probably wouldn't like it. If you want something special, how about some Winter Wine? I bet you'd like it."

"Sure! And if you get some Demon's Tears I can try that too." Roxas said happily, and Axel just shook his head with a smile. He was fairly sure Roxas wouldn't want to try the drink when he saw it. The name was more of a description than a trade label. He walked over to the bar, and came back quickly with their drinks… a small bottle of Winter Wine and a jar of Demon's Tears. It was a little expensive, but Roxas had given him more than enough to cover it.

"Okay." Axel opened the Winter Wine and poured it for Roxas. The smooth, amber liquid smelled faintly of honey. "This is made on a frozen world from some really strange fruits. Don't ask me what, I've never been there. But that's why it's called Winter Wine." Roxas took a sip, his eyes widening in delight at the delicate, flowery taste. There was an odd, tingling aftertaste that made him want to drink more. "And this is Demon's Tears." Axel broke the seal on his jar, the indrawn air making a small hiss. He poured himself a glass of the black liquid, and watched as it suddenly caught fire in the glass. Roxas stared, shocked. "Yeah. You probably don't want to try this."

"How can you drink that?" Roxas asked, appalled. It looked dangerous. Axel grinned and took a sip, the flames licking around his face but not touching him.

"Fire magic, remember? Actually, I was born with a flame elemental under the skin. It's a gift." Axel shrugged as Roxas frowned. "That's why I was so expensive."

"Oh." Roxas hesitated, looking down at the table as he remembered what Rude had said… about safaris and angering thunder gods. "Axel… I… my life is pretty boring." He suddenly felt like he was fettering the redhead… chaining him to a boring life on a boring world. Axel shook his head with a small laugh.

"Boring is fine Roxas." Roxas looked up at him anxiously, and Axel grinned. "You're thinking of Rude, right? Rude is fucking insane, Roxas. Mongo couldn't find any good fit for him. They finally had to practically give him away to Rufus. I'm not bugnuts, so boring is just fine." Axel couldn't imagine living Rude's life. It sounded fun but unbearably stressful, and while he liked combat he didn't crave it the way the other redhead did. Roxas looked a bit more happy, and sipped his wine. The time passed quickly as they drank and chatted, but Axel was keeping an eye on it. He finally stood with a sigh. "Time to go Roxas. We don't want to keep your dad waiting."

"We sure don't!" Roxas jumped to his feet… or rather, tried to. Axel caught him as he wobbled, frowning. Surely Roxas hadn't had that much to drink? He glanced at the bottle of date wine and the Winter Wine and saw they were both nearly gone.

"Crap." Roxas had been handling it well for a new drinker, and that had deceived him, but now that Roxas was trying to walk his condition was clear. "Okay… you're drunk. C'mon, let's get you home." Roxas smiled happily as Axel put an arm around his waist, steering him through the crowd.

It took a while to get to the Black Swan Inn, and finally Axel resorted to carrying Roxas over the blond's protests. Roxas soon gave up on that anyway, just nestling his head against Axel's chest like a small child. Axel was glad he was much stronger than he looked… despite being short and on the small side, Roxas was still a sixteen year old boy.

Unfortunately, Vexen and his bodyguard were waiting outside the Inn for them, and Axel had the feeling they were a bit late. But that was nothing compared to the frown on Vexen's face when he spotted them.

"What is going on here?" He asked, his voice soft and deadly. Axel hesitated a moment as Roxas muttered sleepily, then shrugged.

"I took him to the World's End Tavern and I think he's had a bit too much to drink. I'm sorry, sir." Axel said humbly, and was surprised by the anger on Vexen's face. Sure, getting drunk wasn't a great thing, but it also wasn't something to be so upset about.

"Roxas is not of legal drinking age. Why did you take him to a tavern in the first place?" Vexen snapped, and Axel blinked, fumbling for an answer.

"I… er… wasn't aware of the legal drinking age on your world, sir. And Roxas asked to come." Axel struggled to think of anything that could get him out of this, but came up blank. Roxas' father was clearly furious with him. Roxas stirred a bit, pulling his head up.

"Dad… s'alright… I asked him to… punish me." Roxas said, slurring his words a little, and Vexen turned his attention to the blond.

"I don't have to, Roxas. The good lord is going to punish you tomorrow." Roxas blinked uncomprehendingly. "Take him up to his room and don't give him any painkillers tomorrow. As for you…" Vexen gave Axel a look of disgust. "Forget about supper. Just take him to bed." Axel was briefly glad he had sampled the bar snacks. He'd be very hungry tomorrow, but not too bad tonight.

"Yes sir." He wasn't going to push his luck with Vexen any farther. Vexen and his bodyguard watched them go, and when they were out of earshot his bodyguard spoke.

"Did you just send him to bed without supper?" Amusement brightened his tone, and Vexen sighed.

"Fitting for a pair of children, Saix. Hrmph… I should have gotten him an older bodyguard." Vexen grumbled to himself. His blue haired bodyguard tilted his head to one side.

"Oh? How old is he?" He had pegged Axel at perhaps twenty-five, which was definitely not a child. Vexen sighed.

"Only nineteen, apparently. Well, it's too late now." Once the blood bond was made, it could only be broken by specific conditions. Saix shrugged.

"Maybe that will help him and Roxas bond." The fact that they were very nearly peers in terms of age could definitely be helpful. It wasn't necessary for a bodyguard to be friendly with his master… but it was often useful. He and Vexen weren't in love… not hardly… but they were friends.

"I just wish I was sure that would be a positive thing." In Vexen's opinion, the last thing Roxas needed was encouragement on some of his attitudes… but time would tell.

* * *

Upstairs, Axel glanced around the room as he gently set Roxas on the bed. He'd never been in the upstairs of the Black Swan before. It was precisely as he had expected… rather garish red velvet and an obscene amount of gilding on the fixtures. He idly wondered if the toilet was gilded too, and smirked. It would be just like this place.

"Axel… Axel, stay…" Roxas sipped his arms around his neck, holding him down, and Axel frowned as he looked into his master's big blue eyes. Roxas looked… extremely kissable, his pink lips parted and begging. But…

"Are you ordering me to?" Axel asked softly, and Roxas blinked, seeing the sadness in his green eyes even through the alcoholic haze.

"N-No… but Axel…" Roxas nuzzled Axel's throat, and Axel smiled before touching a finger to Roxas lips.

"Then not tonight." He said firmly, ignoring the sad, disappointed look on the blond's face. "You're drunk and I'm hungry and a bit mad at you. Now sleep." Tears rose in Roxas' eyes, and Axel sighed as he gently patted the blond's hair.

"Why're you mad at me…?" Roxas asked pathetically, as Axel pulled off his shoes and socks, then gently tucked him under the covers.

"Because you got me in trouble with your dad. Don't worry about it, Roxas. We can talk about it tomorrow." He gently soothed the boy, until he dropped off to sleep. "Was I ever this young?" Axel knew he must have been, at one time. But not since he was fourteen. And it hurt to remember. Axel's eyes darkened for a moment, and he shook his head before taking off his boots and finding a spot on the couch.

It hurt to remember better times.


	3. Virgin No More

_The books._

_The books. Save the books. The books are burning!_

_Heat, dust, fires that touch but don't burn… but the books… the books are burning and the pages slip between my fingers. I have to save the books but they burn and burn and burn I can smell them burning. And the flesh and hair and the screams as the books are burning…_

_My chest hurts. Can't die yet. Save the books…_

* * *

Axel awoke with a racking cough, and for a moment he tasted soot and felt phantom flames against his skin. Then he realized there were sparks in his hair and the couch was singeing.

"Damn!" Jerking upright, he extinguished the flames and frowned at the couch. Fortunately, the damage wasn't too bad… maybe the cleaning staff wouldn't notice if he put a pillow over it. Axel grimaced at himself… that nightmare happened sometimes, and he'd never found a way to prevent it. Fortunately, the flames built slowly so the few times he'd been sleeping with someone else, it woke them up and they generally gave him a sharp jab to take care of it. He made a mental note to warn Roxas about that… it might freak him out, waking up to find his lover setting the bed on fire. Then he blinked as he heard a whimper from the bed. "Roxas?"

"Axel?" Roxas tried to sit up and fell back, his face an unhealthy shade of green. "Bath… bathroom…" Axel quickly grabbed his arm and rushed him to the bathroom so he could make his offering to the porcelain goddess. Roxas retched, then heaved the contents of his stomach into the bowl as Axel kept an arm around his chest. The boy was trembling so hard, he was afraid he was going to pass out. "Oh… I want to die…"

"You won't die." Axel said soothingly, and Roxas looked up weakly, his normally beautiful blue eyes rather bloodshot.

"I know, I want to… urrpp…" Roxas heaved again, and Axel concentrated on murmuring soothing nothings, stroking his hair as the boy dealt with his hangover. "…Water?" He rasped out when he was done, and Axel nodded, letting go of him to fetch a glass of water. Roxas drained it as if he was dying of thirst, and Axel got him another. "Thanks, Axel."

"No problem. I've had a few hangovers in my lifetime. C'mon, let's put you back to bed." Axel helped Roxas up, almost carrying the boy back to the bed. He had Roxas settled in when someone knocked at the door. Frowning, he looked up. "Come in!" He blinked as Vexen's bodyguard came in, carrying a tray of food. Roxas groaned at the smells, but Axel's stomach clenched in hunger. It had been a long time since the bar snacks.

"I know you probably don't think so, Roxas, but eating would help." He said with a sympathetic smile, and Axel examined the man thoughtfully. He hadn't really had the time to get acquainted with him so far. He had long blue hair and an odd X scar on his face. "And I'm sure you're hungry, Axel."

"You're right about that. Uh, what's your name?" He couldn't remember Vexen mentioning it.

"Saix. There's a note from Vexen on the tray. See you later… I need to go take care of his majesty." Saix smiled at him again before leaving the room, and Axel frowned at the note. Deciding to ignore it for now, he put together a small plate of food for Roxas and carried it to the bed along with a large glass of orange juice.

"His majesty?" Roxas mumbled, blinking at Axel. "Never heard Saix say anything like that before." Vexen's bodyguard was usually the strong, silent type. Axel shrugged.

"You probably shouldn't repeat it to Vexen. Here's some toast with eggs. Eggs really do help." Roxas turned a little green and shook his head, but tried the orange juice. "Well, give 'em a try when you feel up to it."

"Okay." Axel smiled at Roxas before going back to the table and starting his own breakfast. There was a lot left, and he tucked into it immediately. Pulling out the note, he read it as he ate.

_Axel,_

_I am going to be conducting business all day. Please show my son around. However, since it seems I must clarify, there are restrictions. Do not take him to any taverns. Do not take him to any whorehouses. Do not take him to any drug dens or gambling parlours. Do not, under any circumstances, no matter how much he begs you, take him to see the Animaniacs movie. Do not take him above the eleventh layer or below the second. Other than that, please have fun and if you can, take my stubborn, annoying son to bed._

_-Vexen_

Axel stopped chewing as he read through the note, blinking. What was an animaniac? And was Vexen ordering him to sleep with Roxas?

"Roxas, your dad is really weird." Axel had to comment, and Roxas looked up from his orange juice with a frown.

"Why, what's in the note?" Axel tossed it over to the bed, and watched, entertained, as Roxas' ears turned red. "I wish he would stop that! He acts like if I don't get laid soon I'm going to be a virgin forever like Rodrick."

"Hmm." Axel decided not to pursue that in favor of the truly unanswered. "What's an animaniac?" He had no clue, and it was cute when Roxas really started to blush.

"That's… it's… a cartoon. When I was a kid I sang the theme song for it for three years straight. I still like them…" Roxas admitted, shamefaced. "And a movie just came out. I think he's afraid I'll start singing the theme song again." Axel grinned.

"Three years? My mom would have drowned you. I guess this explains why your dad is so weird, hey?" Roxas glowered at him and Axel laughed. "Well! We can't go to the whorehouse, such a shame… would you like to check out the flea market? It's something else." Roxas looked a little dubious, then shrugged. He'd been to flea markets before and never found them very interesting, but it was something to do.

"Um… Axel? I'm really sorry about getting you into trouble with my dad." Roxas looked up, meeting Axel's green eyes, and Axel smiled for a moment before waving it off.

"Don't worry about it. It's hardly the first time I've had to skip a meal. Just think a bit about me next time, okay?" Roxas flushed but nodded. He would have to consider Axel now, before he did something to really piss Vexen off, and he suddenly frowned. Was that part of the point of getting him a bodyguard? "Before we go to the flea market, though, you should sleep a few more hours." Axel was sure more sleep would do wonders for Roxas' hangover. He was still pale and had only managed to eat one egg.

"I don't know if I can sleep, Axel." Roxas said wretchedly, and Axel chewed on his bottom lip for a moment. He wouldn't have offered for anybody… but Roxas looked so pathetic, so tired and worn.

"I can sing you to sleep." He finally said, his voice a bit harsh. Roxas looked at him with a frown, and Axel smiled crookedly. "It's a gift." He didn't give Roxas a chance to ask, sitting down beside him on the bed and taking his hand, concentrating on the feel of his soft skin as he began to sing. A moment later, Roxas was dozing comfortably.

Or at least, to Axel it was a moment later. But his throat was sore and, glancing at the clock, he knew he had been singing for almost fifteen minutes. The time was completely lost to him. He had no recollection of it whatsoever. Mongo had told him not to worry about it, that the gift always answered his desires so there was no point in fearing it… but he couldn't help but worry. It wasn't like his fire magic, it wasn't something he could consciously control… and when he used it, he felt completely out of control. Axel examined Roxas' face for a moment. Asleep, he looked like a beautiful angel. Axel bent down, pressing a gentle kiss against his cheek before looking around for something for him to do.

There were several books on the dresser, and Axel gravitated to them instantly. Flipping one of them open, he began to carefully read. The script wasn't his homeworlds… they used a completely different alphabet… but an intensive study of different languages and writings had been part of his studies. And he was good at languages. He'd learned to speak three when he was just a child.

But the subject matter of the book was another story. Axel sighed and started looking at the pretty pictures as he realized the terms and equations in it were simply incomprehensible to him. What was molecular gastronomy anyway? The pictures seemed to relate to bizarre foods. It was very confusing.

Another book on the table was much better… it was a story about a place called Camelot, and involved knights and dragons and glorious deeds. Axel couldn't be absolutely sure, but he thought it was a fantasy, not a historic novel. The descriptions were too fanciful, and it was depicting a class two or three world, not a class one like Roxas homeworld.

Time passed swiftly as he read the book. Puzzling out the script sometimes took a bit of time, but got much easier as he went on and the book was good. By noon, Roxas stirred again with a groan.

"Ohh… Axel?" Roxas pushed himself up, looking much better, and Axel looked up with a smile. "Ugh, I feel… so grubby." It had been a long time since he had had a bath. Axel's smile warmed… he was feeling more than a bit dirty too, but he'd put off taking a bath, mostly because he hadn't wanted to leave Roxas alone.

"Is your head feeling better?" Roxas blushed and nodded. "Great. So… where are the baths around this place?" Axel had no idea. Roxas blinked, surprised.

"Oh… right, you wouldn't know. There's baths in the back." Roxas stopped, blushing slightly. "They're communal. And… both sexes." Axel grinned at him, amused by his blushing.

"I know. I've lived on the Twisted World for years, remember? Nothing more precious here than water." Ya Tashra and his apprentices and followers had done a lot of things for the Twisted World… they had created a very efficient waste disposal system and endless water fountains… but still, there was only just enough water to go around. Communal baths, where the water was magically purified and recycled, were the norm. Roxas nodded, sliding out of bed and blinking as he spotted the book in Axel's hands.

"You were reading that?" Axel looked down at the book, frowned and set it back on the desk. Roxas sounded… surprised.

"Yeah. You thought I couldn't read?" Axel gently teased the blond, who blushed and shook his head. "Ah, don't look so embarrassed. We get that a lot. But to be a bodyguard and courtesan, you need to be fluent in all the languages of the places you might be sold. That's why we're so expensive. Although, I can read more languages than most." Roxas tilted his head to one side, fascinated by the revelation.

"Really? How many languages do you read?" That was interesting. He hadn't really thought about how intelligent Axel might be, although he'd immediately known the bodyguard was bright. Axel shrugged with a smile, pulling a change of clothes and his hair care items out of his bags.

"Four pretty well. Three more that I can puzzle stuff out in if I work at it. I speak all seven fluently." Axel decided to leave it at that. Anything more would have seemed like bragging… it already seemed like bragging, even though it was nothing but the truth. But mentioning that he had a working knowledge of magical runes as well as two types of hieroglyphics would have been too much. He'd learned that as a child, helping his mother…

Quickly shelving the memory in a dusty bin, Axel followed Roxas to the baths. They were larger than most, quite luxurious and at the moment, completely empty. They peeled off their dirty clothes, leaving them on hangers with their room numbers… the staff would wash them and return them… and slipped into the hot waters with a glad sigh. There was a cold tub, too, but Axel vastly preferred it hot. Soon he was busy lathering his hair, eyes closed. So he didn't see the way Roxas was staring at his chest.

"Axel… what happened to you?" Axel blinked, opening his eyes at the almost horrified question, and followed Roxas gaze down to his chest.

"Oh… that." Axel frowned, searching Roxas eyes for any sign of disgust. That was something he had been worried about for years, although Mongo had told him he was being too self-critical, that none of the customers would really care about the old scars. His chest was cabled with fine white lines… it looked like someone had flayed him with hot wires. Although if you looked very closely, the way the scars tucked and ridged in places hinted that the injuries had been far, far more serious than a flaying. But the healing job had been very good. What could have been a horror show was almost decorative. And Axel couldn't see any disgust in Roxas' blue eyes… just concern. That made him feel better, and Axel smiled slightly. "Just old injuries, from when I was younger. Nothing to worry about. They don't bother you, do they?"

"Oh no!" Roxas said hastily, then smiled shyly as he scooted over to Axel's side. Axel blinked, wondering what he was up to. "Actually… if you don't mind… I'd like to touch them." Roxas slowly ran a finger along the scar on his collarbone, and Axel sucked in a quick breath. His scars felt different than the rest of his skin… they were more sensitive, almost painfully so at times. Roxas' light touch felt tingly, and he had to suppress the urge to flinch away. Roxas started tracing a scar just below his nipple, and Axel had to grab his hand as the tingling threatened to turn into pain.

"Sorry." He said huskily at Roxas startled, almost hurt expression. "My scars… they're hypersensitive. It almost hurts, when they're touched like that." Roxas winced, and Axel grinned, sliding closer to him. "Although… it is hot as hell." Roxas eyes widened as Axel's face hovered over his, and their lips met for a slow kiss.

As first kisses went, it wasn't the best in the world. Roxas had clearly never kissed before, and at first kept his lips tightly closed. But Axel gently prodded at them with his tongue, asking for an entrance, and Roxas gasped, inadvertently letting him in. Axel explored the smaller blond's mouth, putting a hand behind his head to steady him. Roxas responded enthusiastically but a touch clumsily, and to Axel that was adorable. They finally parted, breathing heavily, and Roxas blushed.

"I… I'm sorry, I'm not very good at it…" Roxas started, a bit ashamed. Axel's polished skill showed him how much he didn't know. Axel smiled, his green eyes twinkling as he slid his hand down to Roxas back.

"You're great." Roxas gave him an I-know-you're-lying look. "Seriously. As a kiss from just anybody, yeah, it could have been better. But as a kiss from Roxas… it was great." He really meant that. He'd just met Roxas, but had a serious lust for him already. Roxas frowned.

"You've just met me… you don't know me at all." He said with a surprising bitterness, and Axel's eyes flashed, as he gripped Roxas hand and then laid it on his chest, across his scars. Roxas looked surprised as Axel leaned closer, until he was almost breathing on the blond's lips.

"And you don't know me. But you want to, don't you?" He said softly, and Roxas swallowed, then nodded. "I want to know you. And we have twenty years to do it." That was the duration of his contract. He would be twenty-nine when his commitments were fulfilled. Right now, it seemed like all the time in the world. Axel started to kiss Roxas again-

And pulled back as a woman entered the baths. She completely ignored them both, sliding into the cold bath, but the moment was broken and Axel was suddenly aware of the shampoo in his hair. It was starting to congeal into an unpleasant mass, and he quickly ducked under the water to wash it out. Roxas looked both relieved and disappointed to have the moment broken, but started washing up as well. Neither of them wanted to talk with someone else in the room.

Soon they were done, wearing clean clothes and ready to head out into the world. Axel took Roxas through the clogged streets, showing him how to navigate the insane architecture of the Twisted World. Thanks to all the magic that had gone into its construction, and all the wizards who liked to set up shop, there were plenty of parts that defied normal geometry and gravity. Although given the nature of the place, its gravity was artificial to begin with…

"Axel, I think I'm going to be sick." Roxas gasped out as they had to pass through one particularly non-euclidian area. Roxas couldn't know, but it was a hub of shortcuts in the reality of the Twisted World. Axel grinned at him.

"Just close your eyes for a second." Axel advised him, and when Roxas obeyed he picked up the younger man. Roxas yelped but kept his eyes tightly closed as Axel leapt onto a neighboring stairway… but technically, he leapt up onto the bottom half of it as the gravity reversed itself. Roxas whimpered as his inner ear protested violently at the treatment and he clung to Axel as if his life depended on it. Axel, who had done this a million times, quickly found the door that provided a shortcut to the ninth level.

"We're here!" Axel quickly moved to the side to let other people exit the shortcut. As nauseating as it was, the time savings kept people coming back to that area in droves. If they had actually traveled down the layers, it would have taken hours by foot, and even an aircab would have taken quite a bit of time. The spirals were inconvenient, in some ways, and they would have been starting on the fifth level. Roxas glanced around, blinking in surprise.

"It looks like a fair, or a farmer's market." It really did. Nobody grew anything on the Twisted World, but they didn't need to. Plenty of farmers who lived near the portals were eager to bring their produce and sell it at premium prices. Although for the general population, there were the greater portals that brought large shipments of goods to fill the supermarkets. The flea market was for all kinds of smaller vendors from hundreds of worlds.

"It's probably more like a farmer's market, although you can find a lot of inter-dimensional junk here too." Axel admitted, leading the way into the mess of stalls. If they had any rhyme or reason, it was difficult to decipher. "Before you buy anything, run it past me, okay? It's perfectly possible to end up with something cursed from this place. Or at least, something that doesn't have an instructions manual." Roxas nodded, pausing to look at a stall with a selection of fine rings available. The prices were suspiciously low, and he blinked as they suddenly winked into brass before returning to gold. "Fairy gold. It can last a while, but never forever. Really good for fooling a girl, though."

"Oh." Roxas shook his head as they continued through the fair. Most of it wasn't that special to him, but there were plenty of things that were interesting and quite a few that were incomprehensible. He would have bought the rocket boots, but Axel utterly refused to allow it when he saw the user manual was hand written. "Axel, aren't you supposed to obey me?" Roxas knew he sounded petulant, but couldn't help it. Axel grinned, shaking his head.

"Sorry kid, but I'm also your bodyguard. That means when I see a clear threat to your safety, I get to do whatever I damn well please. It's in my contract." The people being guarded were often unaware of how bodyguards needed to do their jobs, so disobedience in the line of duty was part of the contract. In fact, it was mandatory. "And I don't want you playing with those boots, and I bet your father would agree."

"Probably." Roxas sighed and dropped it. Axel was undoubtedly right… if rocket boots were a good idea, his own world would have them already. "Oh wow… what are those?" Roxas ran over to a display of miniature dragons. They were each the size of a small cat and as friendly and curious as puppies. "I want to get one!" Roxas gently scratched the head of a small green female, who purred and flapped her wings. Axel grinned and shook his head.

"Bad idea, Roxas." Roxas frowned at him, starting to get really angry… until Axel pointed past him. "That's momma." Roxas turned to look and almost blanched. The adult female watching them was the size of a horse. "They breathe fire, too, and start getting really ratty when they hit puberty. Unless you neuter or spay them, and I don't think the vets in your world would be ready for that, do you?"

"No." Roxas could imagine it, and while it was a hilarious thought, he didn't think it would be nearly as funny in real life. "Okay, Axel… what would you recommend I get?" Axel looked thoughtful for a moment.

"If you want a pet? How about a pet rock?" Roxas gave him a look, and Axel grinned. "I'm serious! Almost all of us have one. Let me show you…" Axel took Roxas through the flea market, easily finding the pet rock vendor. Every class ended up discovering them from the class above, then demanded a trip to the vendor. "These things are super popular, you'll love 'em." Roxas looked at the rocks dubiously. They were dozens of colors and glittered like talc, but he couldn't see what was special about them. "Pick one up." Frowning, Roxas did so, then gasped.

The rock was… vibrating. Almost singing, although no one else could hear anything. But to Roxas, the vibration was the most pleasant, relaxing thing he had ever felt. He closed his eyes for a moment and swayed, until Axel touched him on the shoulder. His eyes shot open as he shook off the spell of the rock.

"Pretty nice, eh? They make a great sleep aide. Why don't you get a couple? Vexen probably doesn't know about them." That made Roxas beam, and Axel felt his heart skip a beat at the happy expression. Roxas looked so beautiful when he was happy, his blue eyes bright and his smile wide and open.

"That's a great idea! Dad's birthday is next month and I didn't know what to get him." He was sure Vexen didn't have a pet rock… he'd have noticed something this strange. "Thanks Axel. Do you want one too?" Axel shook his head.

"I already have one in my bags." He liked using it when he was having a particularly bad night. It didn't prevent the nightmares, unfortunately, but it let him drop off after one. They kept exploring the fair but didn't find anything as fascinating, and picked up supper from a street vendor.

"Do I want to know what I'm eating?" Roxas asked as Axel bit into the crispy, spicy meat chunks on a stick. A few vegetables had been stuck on, but they were clearly an afterthought.

"Nope. Just enjoy it, it tastes pretty good." They snacked in silence for a while, and Roxas groaned as he saw they were going back to the shortcut, but didn't protest as Axel picked him up again. A short, stomach churning series of jumps later, and they were back on the fifth level. It didn't take them long to reach the Black Swan Inn… and find out that Vexen and Saix weren't back yet.

"They must be having a long day." Roxas said with a frown, and Axel shrugged as they entered Roxas room. It was almost nine, which was rather late. "I-oh!" Roxas gasped as strong arms slid around him from behind and warm breath touched his throat. "Axel, what are you doing…" He stopped with a blush as Axel chuckled softly. It was blindingly obvious what the redhead was doing.

"Your dad did say I should seduce you, Roxas." Axel said playfully, and Roxas blush deepened. "That's one instruction I don't mind taking." He started slowly exploring the small, desirable blond, but Roxas caught his hands.

"I'm not just a… duty to you, am I?" Roxas turned in Axel's arms to face him, and Axel smiled into his face, his eyes dark with lust.

"Roxas… you could never be just a duty to anyone." Axel was a bit amazed that Roxas couldn't see how desirable he was. He clearly didn't think of himself as anything special… but Axel was sure that most other people wouldn't agree. Roxas was more than cute enough to be a courtesan, if he'd been born in another time and place. "Let me show you…" Axel began removing Roxas' clothes in slow, sensuous moves. He undid his shirt buttons, sliding open the cloth and exploring Roxas chest, gently tweaking his sensitive nipples. Roxas gasped, leaning against Axel and trying to help him out of his leathers, but the ties on his enchanted armor were just too complex. Axel grinned at his frustrated growl, and helped Roxas get the armor off, then his clothes. Soon they were both naked, and Axel pulled Roxas to the bed as the boy looked at him with lust filled blue eyes.

"Axel…" He moaned as he lay down onto the bed, and Axel began exploring his chest again, grinding their hips together. Their erections slid against each other, and Roxas gasped in pleasure at the delicious friction. "Axel!" He was losing his mind, utterly intoxicated by the red haired man above him who was doing such wonderful things to him…

Axel, meanwhile, was trying desperately to control himself. The movements, the gasps, the desperate need in Roxas voice were all making him want to fuck the boy desperately. But he had to make this good for him, had to take his time and make sure it was right. Nothing less would do. So instead of taking Roxas immediately, he slid down until Roxas' twitching erection was in front of his face. He looked up with a grin to see Roxas watching him, confused, and then lowered his head to take Roxas in his mouth.

"Ahh… uhn! Axel!" Roxas tried to thrust up into that feeling, but Axel had him easily pinned. His cries turned into needy moans as Axel swirled his tongue over his length, prodding the tip and bobbing his head up and down. One hand was on Roxas' base, stroking him rhythmically in time with what he was doing, and the other was on his hip, holding the boy in place. "Axel… I'm going to… agh!" Axel swallowed most of it as Roxas came, but let a bit of it slide down the corner of his mouth, dripping down to land on Roxas thigh. He looked up to see Roxas staring, his blue eyes wide, and grinned, reaching up to wipe away the moisture.

"You like?" He asked teasingly, and Roxas gasped, his breathing still ragged from what they had done. Axel slowly stroked Roxas erection, which was quickly getting hard again, and had an answer. He leaned down, planting a kiss against Roxas belly. "Hang on a sec, Roxas. I need something." Roxas frowned, confused, as Axel went to his bags and pulled out a bottle of lubricant. Roxas blinked, and flinched a little as he realized what it was for… and what Axel intended to do next. Axel slid back onto the bed, then hesitated as he spotted the fear in Roxas eyes.

"Hey… we don't have to do this now if you don't want to. We can stop here." Although if they did that, he'd either have to spend some time alone in the bathroom, or teach Roxas a bit about oral or manual sex. Axel's hard erection was making demands, and he wanted the beautiful blond in front of him. Roxas hesitated, then shook his head.

"Keep going." He whispered, and Axel stroked him as he slowly began opening him. Roxas whimpered in pain, closing his eyes tightly until he became accustomed to the strange feeling of having something inside him. Axel shifted slightly, swallowing as he watched Roxas moan softly as he moved his finger deeper, trying to find Roxas sweet spot. He added a second finger, gently prodding that spot and making Roxas gasp. "Axel!" When he felt that Roxas was as ready as he could get, Axel bent his legs up and slid slowly inside, watching the boy's face. There was pain there, but they had both expected it, and Axel gripped the blankets tightly, holding still until the pain began to fade. Roxas tentatively moved his hips, and that was all the encouragement he needed to begin thrusting into the hot, slick, erotic feeling under him. He'd had plenty of experiences, but very few of them had been this good… "Axel, oh, please, please." Roxas didn't know what he was begging for, his eyes glazed in pleasure as Axel hit that special spot again and again… but Axel seemed to know what he needed, and began speeding up the pace, taking him harder and faster, their bodies slapping together. Roxas cried out as the pace drove him beyond words, took him to a kind of nirvana, a place where there was nothing but him and Axel and the mindless, wonderful sex, the tremendous sensations…

It couldn't last, and they both came hard, Axel spilling his seed into Roxas' insides as Roxas came with a small scream. For a long moment, they lay tangled together, and Axel slowly nuzzled Roxas throat before he pulled away. Roxas whimpered at the empty feeling, but then sighed as Axel's strong arms enfolded him.

"Roxas, if anyone ever tells you you're not great, don't believe them. You are so wonderful." Axel whispered in his ear, and Roxas frowned sleepily.

"You don't know me…" He had to say, and smiled as he felt and heard Axel laugh.

"Roxas, in this one way, I know you more than anyone else in the world." Comforted by the truth of that, Roxas drifted to sleep.


	4. School with Roxas

Author's Note: I meant to make the length of the contract ten years, not twenty. Typos. ^^

"So this is your home? I'm impressed." Axel said as he watched a little crystal sculpture of a clown caper across a decorative table. He recognized it as a bonded Swarovski crystal sculpture… they were sold in the Twisted World and he'd always had an eye for things that glittered.

Roxas home was spectacular. He had been right about Vexen… the style was very minimalist and modern… but no comforts had been spared. There were very few servants, though, and the few Axel had encountered so far were indentured servants from class three worlds like himself. It was a bit surprising. Vexen was exacting, but didn't really seem that hard to work for… couldn't he find help in his own world? But perhaps he wanted help he could trust absolutely. Indentured servants couldn't be bribed or bought, thanks to the blood bond.

"It's not bad." Roxas said, a little embarrassed. His home was nothing special among the other children he had grown up with, but after seeing how Axel lived he knew it was exceptional to the redhead. "I can show you around a bit, if you want."

"Please!" Axel smiled at him, and Roxas relaxed a little, smiling back. Soon he was showing Axel around the house, the redhead taking in everything curiously. There was plenty of high technology in evidence… a little sprayer was floating around, moistening the flowers, and there was a small robot vacuum zipping around, taking care of the dust. In fact, the machines seemed to be doing most of the work Axel usually saw done by people.

"This is the library." Roxas waved at the shelves of books. The library was a very big room, although he knew his friends laughed at it… why physical books when a book reader was more convenient? A lot of them were antiques, too, but Roxas had gotten rather fond of them. Fond enough that he often brought a few with him, despite the bulk. Book readers just weren't as nice to curl up on a sofa with. "It's not a bad collection… Axel?" Roxas suddenly stopped with a blink as he realized Axel wasn't following him anymore. He turned around and stared at the unguarded expression on Axel's face as he looked at the books. It was like a hungry man suddenly confronted with a large, juicy steak.

"So many…" Axel whispered, trailing his fingers over the spines of the nearby books. "It is a library." It wasn't as big as the one he had known before but… Axel had to concentrate on taking deep breaths, calming himself. It had been years since he had been in a library of any kind. The Twisted World had a few bookstores, but no libraries.

"You like libraries?" Roxas asked, tilting his head as he watched Axel. His reaction was… strange. He seemed happy, sad and filled with a desperate need for the books. Axel looked up from the books with a small, crooked smile.

"You might say. I grew up in one. My mother was the head librarian." Roxas started to ask another question, but Axel stepped forward and laid a finger across his lips. "Not now, Roxas. Maybe I'll tell you about it someday." Someday when he knew the blond better… and when he wasn't already upset. If he had to tell that story right now, he would end up crying. "Keep showing me around?" Roxas frowned, but nodded.

"Sure." As they walked away, Axel glanced back at the library. He would be there later… and probably every time he had a free moment. His mother had given him many gifts, but perhaps the most profound was his love of books.

* * *

"What do you think, Saix?" Vexen laced his fingers together as he watched Roxas and Axel through his datapad. It was linked to all the security cameras in the building, among its other features, so he could observe them at any time.

"It's really not my place to say, sir." Saix said politely, and Vexen sighed.

"Please stop that, Saix. I would like an honest opinion." Vexen had first gotten Saix a very long time ago… when he was only eighteen and Saix was twenty. They had been together for twenty-five years. His contract had been over fifteen years ago, but he had stayed on with a modified blood oath. Vexen knew, abstractly, that Saix should retire and he should find a new bodyguard. Forty-five was simply too old to be the perfect bodyguard, let alone courtesan. Not that they had done much of the second in years. At the very least, he should have gotten a second bodyguard to take over most of Saix's duties… but he kept finding reasons not to. Vexen knew it would hurt the blue haired man to acknowledge that he was old. And it wasn't as if he was unprotected. Vexen had access to items that were supposed to be military only, and the force field generators made Saix job quite a bit easier.

"Well." Saix tilted his head slightly as he looked at the recordings. "He's an interesting one. I don't think I've ever seen one quite like him before." Saix had seen plenty of bodyguard/courtesans come and go. Vexen had the gate to the Twisted World in his house, so he served as the conduit for trade to that realm. And indentured servants were the most desirable commodity, since they were technically legal. Vexen often placed orders with Mongo for other people, and the trader came to their world to finish the bonds. "He's quite a reader." Vexen nodded.

Even in the Twisted World, they had noticed that about Axel. It seemed that he was unable to go by a piece of writing without reading it. If there were papers around, he would gravitate to them, not even considering they might be private. And if he was left with nothing but a pen and paper, pretty soon the paper would be filled with drawings and what looked like hieroglyphics. Vexen had accidentally left Roxas and Axel in his room once, waiting for him, and had come back to find sheets of that. Axel had clearly thought nothing of it.

"I worry that he might be a bit too intelligent." Vexen commented, and Saix frowned. Their type of bodyguards needed to be intelligent, but too much of anything wasn't a good thing. Axel's natural curiosity might make him distractible.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much, sir. His training will keep him alert." Saix shrugged. "If you're worried about it, sir, get someone to take a peek while he's guarding Roxas at school. If anything will distract him, it will be the classes!" Roxas school was an extremely exclusive, private one, so children bringing bodyguards was not exactly unusual.

"Perhaps I shall. I wonder what his story is?" Vexen mused. All of the bodyguard/courtesans that Mongo trained came from some kind of tragic background. Saix had been sold as a slave and brutally treated, in his homeworld, until Mongo had spotted him and given him a second chance. "Well, whatever it is, I'm sure we'll find out eventually." If things continued as they were going, Axel would like Roxas enough to tell him, just as Saix had told Vexen so long ago. "Would you like the rest of the night off to go visit your friend?" Vexen offered, and Saix hesitated a moment before nodding.

"If you don't mind, sir." Vexen smiled sadly and gestured Saix away. Saix was deeply in love with another man, and went to visit him every chance he could. Vexen wasn't deeply acquainted with Xemnas, but he seemed to make Saix happy. That was something Vexen had never been able to do… no matter how much he loved him.

Vexen turned his attention to business and politics, the true passion of his life. It might be a little cold, but it was what he did best.

* * *

Axel and Roxas took the monorail to school, and this time Axel had to depend on Roxas to take the lead. He'd never been on a monorail before, although he'd been educated about them and knew what to expect.

The school was a beautiful building of glass and steel, and Axel loved how much light there was inside. His homeworld hadn't had glass like this… clear glass was very expensive there… and the Twisted World had even less. The occasional sonic burst tended to break windows there, as something incomprehensible passed through. This was very pleasant. Axel glanced at the datapad Roxas had given him… he was only getting used to using it.

"Hey! Are you new here? Did you just enroll?" Axel turned at the voice, unsurprised. He'd been aware of the pitter-patter of feet behind them, and smiled at the short brunette boy. The boy smiled back, and it was as bright and open as the sunshine. Roxas looked over from his locker with a small frown.

"No, he's my bodyguard Sora." Sora's eyes widened, and he offered Axel a hand to shake. "His name is Axel."

"Wow! Nice to meet you." Sora sounded sincere as Axel shook his hand. "I've always kind of wanted a special friend like that but dad says it would be silly because who would want to hurt me? Then he laughs a lot." Sora seemed to wilt, and Axel was fascinated. Even his hair spikes seemed to droop. Then he brightened again. "You'll be coming to our classes then! They're really boring." Sora confided, and Axel couldn't help but laugh. Then he noticed Roxas giving Sora a look that was less than friendly, and cocked an eyebrow at the blond. What was this about?

"C'mon Axel, lets go to class." Roxas muttered and walked away, Axel following behind and Sora trailing after them both like a happy puppy. Axel had to resist the urge to ruffle his hair. Several students came barreling down the hallway from the other direction, and Axel moved instantly, unobtrusively putting himself between Roxas and the possibility of a knockdown. Most of the students avoided him easily, but one ran directly into him. Axel grunted as an elbow hit him in the side, and sternly repressed the urge to give the boy a shove. Or worse.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't see you there!" Combined with the grin and smarmy tone, the apology was obviously false. Axel's temper flared as his green eyes went flat, and he smiled gently at the boy. Something about Axel's expression made the grin slide off his face. Or maybe it was the sparks dancing in his hair.

"I'm sure. Why don't you go to class?" Axel's tone made the words a command, and the boy scowled but before he could muster his nerve, an elegant older woman stepped out of a nearby classroom. She was dressed in an elegantly cut green pansuit, wearing glasses and had her hair in a bun. Her hair was black, liberally shot with silver.

"What is going on here? Go to class." She said sharply, and everyone went about their business with due speed. Axel looked her over curiously as Roxas started past, but she held out a hand. "Wait. Who is this?" Sharp blue eyes traveled up and down him, and she frowned at the leathers. "Another bodyguard?"

"Yes Ma'am." Roxas said respectfully, and she sighed.

"Very well. Go to class." She didn't seem at all pleased by the news, but resigned to it. Roxas quickly hurried past, and Axel blinked as he felt Sora grip his hand. The kid was oddly clingy.

"So what was that about?" He didn't have the heart to dislodge Sora, although he thought that he probably should. Roxas glanced back with a frown.

"Oh… that ass was Lex. The teacher was Mrs. Mae-Lin. Uh… she's got a bit of a thing going on about human rights and she really doesn't like the legal loophole that allows indentured servants from other worlds." Roxas brought them into a mostly empty room, and Axel took a seat beside him. The room was full of long tables with comfortable chairs, and it reminded Axel of the lecture halls he had seen. Sora took a seat on Axel's other side.

"So she doesn't like me much?" Axel said mildly. Being disliked didn't really bother him. But Roxas shook his head.

"Oh no… it's me she won't like for having you as a bodyguard and, um, courtesan." Sora's eyes widened at that, and he suddenly squeaked.

"You're a courtesan? Really? Is that like… a lady of the night?" Roxas choked, and Axel grinned widely. He'd seldom heard it phrased like that.

"Kind of. But I don't sell it, it's just a service I give to my master." Axel smiled at Roxas, who blushed. "A very pleasant service. We also provide other services, but I won't go into those." He didn't think Sora was ready to hear about his specialized training in assassination, thievery and the odder sexual interests. Sora looked very curious, but then the other students started filing in and the lesson began.

Axel knew almost immediately that he was completely out of his depth. It was really quite demoralizing. He was smart, he knew that, although he wasn't sure how smart. But his knowledge of math ended at being able to multiply and divide. He didn't even understand the terms they were throwing around, much less understand the equations. Grabbing a pen and paper, he started working on his hieroglyphs, and a few of the more obscure languages. He needed to practice them or he would forget. As part of him concentrated on the languages, the rest of him stayed aware of the rest of the room. It was a blank, waiting awareness that he had perfected years ago. If anything odd happened, his attention would be instantly drawn to it. Nothing did happen, and they finally got up to go to the next class.

"See? Isn't it boring?" Sora chattered, and Axel smiled faintly. It was boring, but that was mostly because he didn't understand. That first class set the pattern for the rest of the day… chemistry, physics, biology… the only one he understood at all was biology, and that only in a hands on sort of way. The knowledge of the best ways to hurt and kill people included some elements of biology. In the darkest sense.

Then came Literature, and that was a surprise.

"Class, it seems we have a new bodyguard in the room." Axel blinked as Mrs. Mae-Lin gestured to him with a smile. None of the other teachers had even seemed to notice him. "Please, stand and introduce yourself." Axel hesitated, then stood as the class whispered. "And tell us something interesting about you."

"Uh." Axel thought for a moment, then shrugged. "I'm Axel Bashanov. I set things on fire for fun." There was a giggle from the class and the teacher gave him a stern look. "Well, not really, but I have fire magic." Then he sat down. He didn't really want to say anything more. He'd only mentioned the fire magic because it was the first thing that came to mind.

"Oooh, fire magic? Show us a trick!" Sora pulled on his arm, and Axel grinned. The kid was irresistible. Shrugging good naturedly, he snapped his fingers and made a little flame dance in the air. The class ooh'd and ahh'd. "Neat!" He quickly released it as the teacher frowned again.

"Thank you, Axel. Now class, go to page 70…" Axel flicked his book reader to the right page, and blinked. This was something he could get into! As the teacher spoke, he dove into the story… but still kept his awareness of the room. That had been drilled into him firmly. No matter what, he would never forget to look for any threats to Roxas.

"Axel, would you read the next passage please?" Axel blinked as the teacher asked him that. He'd been listening to the others haltingly reciting the passages, but hadn't really been paying attention… he'd been too busy reading and studying the room. He certainly hadn't expected the teacher to include him in the lesson.

"In the original language, or translated?" He immediately thought he had said something wrong, as she frowned at him. All the other students had been reading in the original language, which they were clearly not very good at. But he knew he could do both.

"If you think you can translate, please do so." She said politely as the other students whispered. Axel felt his ears go red, and shrugged and began to read. The translation was a little rough in places, where he had to think hard about what word to pick, but it was serviceable. After a few lines, she held up a hand. "Thank you, Axel. Danilo, please pick up where he left off." Soon, the class was over, and it was time to go home.

"Wow, you translated that like it was easy!" Sora said, amazed, and Axel shrugged with an embarrassed smile as Roxas tugged him along.

"Languages are my thing. Math isn't my thing. I don't understand any of your other classes, Roxas." Roxas glanced back with a smile, then frowned at Sora. Axel was really starting to wonder what was up with that. Roxas didn't seem to want Sora around, although he wasn't actually being mean to the brunette. "Do you think your dad's library has any kids' primers? I'd like to learn, but I'll need to start with basics." Axel firmly believed that no knowledge was wasted, and he wanted to understand.

"He probably doesn't, but I can get you some lessons on your datapad." Roxas promised, and Axel smiled.

"Thanks Roxas." He really did appreciate that. Then Sora jumped in.

"I'll see what I can find too!" They reached the monorail, and Sora finally parted from them. "I'll see you both tomorrow!" He waved as they took the monorail back home, and Axel waved back. The kid was just too cute.

"He likes you." Roxas said tonelessly, and Axel frowned at the grim, set look on the blond's face.

"And I like you." Axel said softly, gently cupping Roxas' cheek with one hand. The blond's blue eyes widened as Axel bent down for a gentle kiss. "So don't worry about it, Roxas. He's probably just hoping I'll be a friend, or maybe crushing."

"…Yeah. You're right." It was still a bit uncomfortable, but Axel was right… Sora was probably just crushing. He'd get over it, probably quickly too. "Say, Axel… would you like to play chess?" Axel smiled slowly and Roxas felt his heart skip a beat.

"I'd love to. But I warn you… I used to win money on chess." Roxas blinked. Placing bets on chess? That was a bit odd.

"Well, I'm on the chess team, so do your worst." Roxas threw out the challenge carelessly, and Axel grinned.

"You're on Roxy." He was going to have fun with this. It had been a very long time since he'd had a good chess game.


	5. The Burning of the Books

A week later.

"Roxas, I was wondering if I could borrow Axel during your chemistry period? I would only need him for about, hm, an hour or so." Mrs. Mae-Lin asked Roxas sweetly, pulling Axel out of an amusing daydream of having both Roxas and Sora on his pillows. It was completely unrealistic and never going to happen… but a man could dream.

"Uh… sure, ma'am." Axel frowned at that, looking at the teacher. Her hair was styled into curls today and she was wearing a pretty, pink, yet conservatively cut dress. She smiled at him and he smiled back, suppressing a bit of uneasiness.

Mae-Lin made him uneasy not because she was a bad person, but because she was a very good person. She was always reminding the class that he and the other bodyguards were people. In particular, she was making a point of calling on him in class, since he could almost always answer the questions. It was making Axel uncomfortable. It would have been a lot worse if it hadn't been for the fact that his abilities in all the other classes were so abysmal. The students joked about him being Mae-Lin's pet, but no one really resented him for it. They didn't really take him seriously anyway… no matter what Mae-Lin said, he was just a bodyguard after all.

"Axel, I want you to fill these out to the best of your ability. Can you do that, please?" Mae-Lin passed him a sheaf of papers and a pencil. Axel blinked, but shrugged, picking up the pencil and getting started. It was mostly a lot of logic questions, and he was good at those. Also some manipulation of objects, but he'd always been good at that too… although the questions got more challenging as it went on. By the end, he was having to really work at it and he wasn't certain of his answers at all. "That's enough." She picked up the sheets, giving him an encouraging smile. "Thank you, Axel." He blinked, puzzled, but didn't know what to say as she gently shooed him out of the room.

"What did she want you for?" Roxas asked, curious and a bit concerned as Axel joined him in Biology. Axel shrugged.

"She wanted me to take a test. It was weird… all kinds of logic questions and stuff. I can't really see the point to it." That had him mystified.

"That sounds like an IQ test! I wonder why she would want you to take one?" Sora said cheerfully, and Axel was about to ask what IQ meant when the lesson started. By the end of the period, he had forgotten about his question.

It didn't seem very important.

* * *

The next day.

"Roxas, Axel, could I see you after class please?" Mae-Lin requested, and they exchanged a glance as Lex snickered behind them.

"You guys are in trouble." He whispered, sotto-voice, and Roxas hissed back.

"And you're a retard." Axel grinned at the annoyed tone, but nodded to Mae-Lin. She nodded back, and began teaching the class again. Once class was done, he and Roxas stayed, confused but willing. If they missed the monorail, they could always take a later one. They ran quite regularly. "Roxas, if you don't mind waiting outside, I would like to speak to Axel privately." Roxas hesitated, clearly wanting to refuse, but obedience to teachers was too strongly ingrained. Axel shifted, wishing he could ask Roxas to stay… but that would probably get him into trouble. Mae-Lin stood, walking over until she was in front of him. "Axel, we need to talk." Her expression was determined.

"Oh?" He said warily, and she nodded.

"Yes. Axel, that test I gave you was designed to measure your intelligence. Did you know that you test out at the genius level?" She said gently, and Axel blinked. "You are a very bright young man. Why are you wasting your life this way?"

"Wasting…?" Axel repeated the word in disbelief, then shook his head. "Ma'am… you don't understand. This was an opportunity for me." Mae-Lin leaned closer, her hands on the table.

"Perhaps, but what about the loss to your world? What could you have done there, to make it a better place for everyone? Axel, it isn't right that we drain away the best from other worlds. This needs to stop. I've been organizing a petition, and I want you to help." Axel stared into her face, feeling her sincerity, and felt sick. She was a good person doing what she thought was right.

And she didn't understand.

"My world… wouldn't have lost anything. My world killed me." He said woodenly, standing up. "Ma'am, you don't understand. I'm dead to them. They didn't want me… or what I could do." His breath was coming quickly, too quickly, and he could taste soot. He could smell… no. That was an illusion. Closing his eyes, he forced back the vile memories.

"If I don't understand, tell me Axel. Tell me what I don't understand." The compassion in her voice, the desire TO understand, was completely genuine. And that undid his control. Reaching up with a shaking hand to wipe away tears, he began to explain…

* * *

_Axel sat at the foot of the old lighthouse, peering intently at an old scroll and occasionally making notes._

_He was fourteen years old and working on his thesis. He was doing a very involved, intricate research paper on the genesis of the genii myths and the possible tie ins with the ancient Andulian gods. Axel had an interesting theory on that and had managed to dig up some intriguing evidence. It was a new take on an old subject, and he thought it would make his mother proud, whether she agreed with him or not._

_His mother was the Chief Librarian of the Library of Ages. It was the biggest and oldest library in the world. There were dozens of under librarians, all of whom spent their time cataloguing new finds and making copies of important works so they could be spread across the globe. It was all done by hand, so it took forever, especially illustrations. But they persevered. It was their duty and their pleasure to spread knowledge to the world._

_Axel loved it. He'd known since he was a small child that he wanted to follow in his mother's footsteps. He loved the smell of books, he loved reading and finding out new things, he loved writing papers and coming up with new possibilities and researching them… he loved learning about ancient languages and people… he loved it all. The library had always been his home. It was all he had ever wanted._

_Glancing up, he noticed something odd on the horizon. Something that shouldn't be there. Ships? But the town was a small one. They hardly ever had any traders, let alone more than one ship! Surely his eyes were playing tricks on him. Carefully rolling up the scroll, Axel stood and looked intently over the water._

_His eyes weren't playing tricks on him. There were sails, coming closer… many sails. Axel suddenly swallowed. Were they pirates? He'd heard stories about pirates, but never imagined he would actually see them. But no… that couldn't be it. No pirate fleet had so many ships. This was like an army! Maybe they were just passing through? Axel felt faint with relief. Surely that was it. They were just passing through to some other naval battlefield._

_But his eyesight was too good for that illusion to last. Axel swallowed again as he saw the ships turning. He only knew about naval operations from books, but he'd read the diary of an admiral once. So he knew the way ships moved to expose their broadside armaments. He also knew what those kind of weapons could do if they were fired into an unsuspecting town. The range on the cannons was huge, and the town didn't even have walls._

"_N-No…" He whispered, horror making him feel faint. This couldn't be happening. It was some kind of horrible nightmare. Then the flashes began and he could hear the booms… and the sudden explosions behind him. And reality descended with a vengeance. "NO!" He turned and ran into the town, dropping the scroll in his haste._

_People were trying to flee, and Axel had to fight against the current, struggling against a tide of panicked townfolk. The town was burning. A magical shell exploded over the crowd behind him, shredding the people. The screams rolled over him but he ignored it. He had to reach the library. He had to find his mother, he had to save the books!_

_The library was in flames. Horror and nausea rippled through him as he saw how engulfed it was. There were still librarians inside, desperately throwing books out of windows in an effort to save them… but it was futile. The books were burning. Pages flew in clouds of sparks as part of the library collapsed, and Axel screamed._

"_MAMA!" He called up his fire elemental and would have run into the burning building, despite it being certain death… but a familiar voice stopped him._

"_Axel." He turned to see his mother, running towards him but she was… she was… his eyes skittered over her, unable to take in what he was seeing. He could smell her, could smell the sickly sweet stench of burnt flesh and the horrible reek of burnt hair and her face… he couldn't look at her face._

"_M-M-Mama…" He lifted his hands, wanting to touch her but how? Where? She was… She slammed something hard down in his left hand. It felt like a cube, and his hand closed over it convulsively._

"_Axel, baby. So… sorry…" She slurred the words out, her voice rasping and faint. Then Axel heard the dreadful whining sound._

"_MAMA!" The shell exploded behind her and she died instantly, torn to pieces by the shrapnel. Her blood exploded over him as the same fragments that had killed his mother hit him in the chest, slamming him to the ground. He would have screamed if he had had any breath, but he was choking on blood. His own blood and his mother's blood. And the books were burning. Rolling over, Axel tried, delirious with pain and grief, to save the books. He had to save the books._

_But his body could not be denied, and he collapsed into unconsciousness._

_When he woke up next, the fires were dead. Everything was dead except a few looters and slavers, out to collect new merchandise from the shattered town. And none of them were going to bother with him. Axel took a deep breath and felt a gurgling, sucking sensation in his chest. He didn't know a lot about wounds, but he knew enough to know it was a miracle he'd lasted this long. He wasn't going to last much longer._

"_This one…" Axel squinted, turning his head to the side as something blocked out the light. "Such power. Such desire to live. Do you feel it?"_

"_Yes, Mongo. But those injuries. Can we heal those enough for him to be fit for duty?" A female voice said. Hands, hard yet oddly gentle, turned him over and touched his chest. Axel whimpered weakly at the pain but didn't protest._

"_If we begin now, I think so. Boy, would you give up your freedom to live? Would you leave this place behind forevermore?"_

"…_Yes." He so wanted to live. Something hard was placed against his lips, and he swallowed weakly, feeling the tingle of magic. A healing potion. Someone was healing him in return for his freedom. The female voice began chanting, and more healing power ran through him like a clear, crisp stream._

_He wanted to live. Wanted it so badly. Freedom was a small price to pay._

* * *

Axel finished his story, vaguely aware that Mae-Lin was weeping. His own eyes were dry now, but there were sparks in his hair. Fires like the fire that had burnt his town. His library, his mother, his life.

"You see." He said, his voice harsh. "That's why… we don't care about our worlds. My story… it's bad but not the worst. I could tell you some of the others. A girl I knew… she was a lesbian. Got found out with her lover. They were both raped and-"

"Please stop!" Mae-Lin cried, and Axel blinked, sliding to a halt. "I-I'm sorry. It's still not right that you're bought and sold like property but I see… I see why you accept it. I see why you don't care about your worlds." She sniffed, rubbing her face. "Do you know… why they burnt the books?" She swallowed. Even saying those words felt dirty, obscene. Axel shook his head wearily.

"No. Mongo and Kilsera wouldn't let me stay to find out. They took me to the Twisted World and I never looked back. What good would it have done anyway? The library would still be gone. Hundreds of years of work, wiped away in a night." Axel's voice was pained, resigned. "I just went on. They had to do a lot of work on me, you know. I would wake up screaming… I was afraid of fire. I couldn't summon my own fires. They put so much healing into me, put me back together… I owe them all so much." Axel rubbed his face with a hand. "They earned every penny they got from me."

"Axel…" Mae-Lin sounded helpless for a moment, then her voice firmed. "Maybe the petition isn't a good idea. I'll have to think about it. Maybe… instead, if your father allows it, we could start a charity in the Twisted World. Start allowing genuine immigration." Axel blinked at the thought. It was downright odd, but…

"You could buy slaves, maybe, and free them. Genuine slaves, not indentured servants… the Twisted World trades a lot of slaves to places that are into that sort of thing." Axel said cautiously, and Mae-Lin winced.

"Not to here, surely?" She asked, and Axel shook his head.

"Oh no, of course not. Vexen would never do that, it's illegal. Only indentured servants come here. But you could buy them, bring them here and free them and teach them and, well, whatever." Axel shrugged a bit helplessly. "It's just an idea. Most slaves really have no chance." There was a huge difference between being an indentured servant and a slave. Axel was actually getting paid, although it wasn't a huge amount, and if he saved up he'd have quite a nest egg when his contract was done. It was all in his contract.

"I'll have to think about it. I'm so sorry I put you through this, Axel." She sounded very remorseful, and Axel smiled weakly, reaching out to take her hand.

"It's okay, ma'am. You needed to understand." He squeezed her hand for a moment, then let go. "I really need to go ma'am. Roxas is waiting for me."

"I understand. See you tomorrow, Axel." Axel nodded and walked to the door, opening it and seeing Roxas. Roxas looked at him, his blue eyes wide and full of tears, and Axel blinked as the blond hugged him.

"Roxas… oh. You were listening?" He said softly, and Roxas sniffed, nodding and burying his face against Axel's chest. Axel held him for a moment, gently kissing his forehead before he let go. "C'mon Roxas, lets go home." He wanted nothing more to get home and start to read a book.

To reassure himself that the books were still there.


	6. Sora's Issues

"Axel?"

"Hm?" Axel blinked and looked down. Sora was tugging on his elbow and looking very… damp. His hair spikes were drooping and his eyes were red as if he'd been crying. "Sora, what is it?" Roxas was speaking with his math teacher about some problems as he waited outside.

"Please… you've got to help me." Sora sniffed and started to cry again as Axel blinked and tentatively patted him on the back. What could Sora need help with? Surely not losing his virginity. Roxas would have a fit, and rightly so. "You're brave and strong and… and… I can't do this anymore!" Sora flung himself onto Axel, hugging his chest and crying into his leathers, ignoring the way the hardened leather bit into his cheek. Axel was taken aback, but put his arms around the distraught child.

"Shhh. Shhh. What is it you can't do?" Axel said softly as Roxas stepped out of the classroom. Roxas scowled as he saw the two of them together, but the anger changed to puzzled concern as he saw that Sora was having a meltdown.

"Axel, what's wrong?" He said softly, and Axel shook his head, waiting for Sora to calm down a bit.

"I'm not sure." Sora hiccupped for a moment before finally raising his head.

"S'my uncle… I have perfect recall, you know that…" Axel nodded. Sora was able to look at a page of writing and recite all of it a moment later. "I don't forget either, ever. My uncle… he's my guardian… he says I'm great, better than any record keeper… 'cause don't have to write the records down." Sora closed his eyes for a moment. "W-When I was a kid it was just a game. He was so h-happy with me… but now… I know what the words mean… I can't keep doing it. I don't w-want to be his datapad anymore! But h-he said if I don't want to he'd have to r-replace me and I know too m-much…" Sora broke down into tears as Axel and Roxas exchanged a wide eyed glance. Sora's uncle was threatening to kill him? Axel quickly made a few decisions.

"C'mon Sora, Roxas, we're going home right now. We'll get you to a safe place." Sora looked at him trustingly, and Axel patted him on the head. Sora was seriously cute, in his own puppyish way. He was totally into Roxas, but no one could be immune to that cuteness. It made Roxas melt too, and he gave Sora a quick hug.

"Yeah, we'll get you to a safe place." Roxas had no idea what Axel was talking about, but he was willing to trust that his bodyguard had a plan. And Axel did. They quickly left, saying nothing to any of the teachers and boarded the monorail home.

"Thank you." Was all Sora said, cuddling up to Axel's side on the ride back. Axel put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed him reassuringly.

"Axel, what are we going to do…?" Roxas asked once they got into the house, and inside Vexen's protections. Axel grinned, a touch evilly.

"Well, it's probably going to shock poor Sora to the core… but there's one place I am absolutely certain he will be safe from anything up to and including rampaging demons. We're taking him to the Twisted World." Roxas eyes widened, but Axel wasn't done. "And we'll put him with Mongo and Kilsera. If we promise Vexen will pick up the tab, they'll do anything."

"Dad is going to be so pissed! But he'll pay it, even if he kills us after." Roxas glanced at Sora, who was watching them both wide-eyed. "And it won't be literally. Okay, c'mon Sora, you're about to see something really weird." Sora managed to brighten, his hair spiking up again.

"I'm going to see the Twisted World? I've heard so much about it, I always wanted to see it!" He took Axel's hand on one side, then Roxas' on the other. Axel grinned as Roxas sighed, a bit put upon.

"You're such a child sometimes, Sora." Sora was fifteen going on ten, in Roxas opinion. Sora just grinned, and Axel thought of something as they walked through the house.

"Sora, can you give me a sample of the stuff your uncle has you memorize? So I can tell Vexen?" That would give them an idea of what exactly they were dealing with. Sora nodded and rattled off several sentences. It was completely meaningless to Axel, and Roxas frowned, not really understanding either. Axel carefully committed it to memory and nodded. "Thanks."

"I don't understand what that means." Roxas complained, and Sora looked down, his hair spikes drooping again.

"You don't want to…" Axel didn't pursue it. They had reached the portal to the Twisted World in the basement. Sora looked at it open mouthed. It was a circle of power, twisting in vaguely nauseating shapes, and they could just barely make out the courtyard behind it in the Twisted World. Axel touched it, and there was no moment of transition. They went from one place to the other instantly. "Wow!" Sora looked around, amazed, and gaped at the sky overhead. "WOW!" They were standing in an open air courtyard with dozens of numbered portals. Travelers from all over reality were coming and going around them, and Axel grinned, giving Sora a gentle tug.

"Gape later. We need to get you to a safe place." There might be another portal to Sora and Roxas world, although it was doubtful. Once Ya Tashra found a good contact, he rarely opened second portals to the same place. Still, it was possible. They made their way through the Twisted World, Sora craning his head in every direction as he tried to see everything, his earlier upset completely forgotten. Axel smiled, amused by his reactions, and Roxas just shook his head. The blond wasn't immune to the wonder of the Twisted World, but Sora was taking it to extremes.

"Wow, what are they doing over there?!?" He pointed to a street vendor. Axel was about to answer, but the vendor beat him to it, declaiming to the crowd in a very loud voice.

"Get your magic wands! Wands of cleaning, most miraculous things in the known worlds! Remove paint and mildew without breaking a sweat! All for the easy sum of 29.95!" People swirled around the barker, but some stopped to look. Axel grinned. He had no doubt the wands would do what the man claimed… up until the batteries went dead. And no doubt he would helpfully be there to sell more batteries.

"Wands of cleaning?" Sora looked almost disappointed that magic wands could be so prosaic. Axel shrugged.

"There are a lot of different types out there. You'd be amazed how the simpler ones go though." Wands that could accomplish tasks like doing dishes were bizarrely popular. Probably because they were useful yet cooler than a dishwasher. They passed by plenty of other street vendors and more than a few shops that had Sora begging to go inside. But a quick reminder of why they were here was enough to stop the brunette. Although pulling him past the street performers was even harder. They finally had to stop to let him watch a particularly good magic show. Axel smiled as scarves turned into pigeons and pooped on someone in the audience, to that persons irritation and everyone else's laughter. He tossed a bill into the magician's jar, and gently but firmly pulled Sora away. "C'mon Sora, that's enough. We really have to get you to Mongo." Sora sighed, but finally went.

The training building was just as he'd left it, and Axel felt his heart give a strange twist. He'd lived there for five years. It wasn't a home, exactly… he'd always known he'd be leaving… but the sight of that familiar, black stoned building brought back memories. On the whole, they were good memories, memories of friendship and lessons. Of Mongo and Kilsera, who weren't nearly as tough as they tried to look, in a lot of ways.

"Swing it harder bitches!" He heard, and grinned at Kilsera's dulcet tones. A voice that musical didn't sound right for a drill sergeant, but she managed to pull it off. "You bunch of goddamn powderpuffs! I'm old enough to be your great grandmother and three of you can't touch me!" Sora's eyes were wide, but Axel grinned and patted him on the back.

"That's Kilsera. She's a big softy, really." He soothed the boy, opening the door and stepping inside. The bell overhead jangled as they entered the front office. A girl was sitting at the front desk, reading a paper, and didn't look up as they walked over. "…" Axel waited for her to acknowledge their presence, then leaned over. "Keep ignoring me and I'm going to set your tabloid on fire." She scowled and slammed the scandal rag onto the desk.

"Just abuse me, it's what I'm for…" Then she suddenly blinked. "Fire breath? What are you doing back here?" Axel grinned at her. She was a very slight, pretty girl with green hair and numerous piercings and he recognized her from his training class. Then he blinked.

"I have business with Mongo and Kilsera… but what are you doing here Froggy?" She scowled bitterly.

"Got returned. Fucker who bought me wanted me to service his friends!" Axel winced sympathetically. Mongo and Kilsera did their best to explain what a blood bonded bodyguard and courtesan would and wouldn't do, and it was all lined out in the contract, but there were always some people who thought they were buying a slave. "He's been blacklisted now, and only got half his money back. But now I have to wait for the next class to graduate to get a new master. Don't suppose Vexen is looking?" She asked Roxas, who started.

"Uh… I don't know, maybe." Vexen was exacting, but made quite sure all the people he made arrangements with knew exactly how things worked. Froggy sighed.

"Well, if he is I'd give him my best. Anyway… Mongo's out right now, but Kilsera should be free as soon as she finishes beating the arrogance out of the trio. C'mon." Froggy led them into the back, gesturing for a young man to take her spot at the front desk. He left off his training with a scowl, and Axel grinned to himself. No one liked manning the front desk.

"And you all thought you were hot?" Kilsera was standing alone, surrounded by three bodies on the floor. Axel paused for a moment, just looking at her. She was exactly the same as she had been five years ago, on the day she and Mongo had saved his life. She had very straight, very black hair with rippling, orange V's in it. Her ears were long and pointed, with a tuff of orange fur on the end, and her eyes were dark gold and shot with orange. When she smiled, the expression revealed delicate fangs. The three girls on the floor around her were completely identical, ice blonds. They had to be identical triplets. One was out cold, while another was groaning and the last was struggling to sit up. "You three are good, really good, but you have a lot to learn. So no more lipping off to the trainers or I will beat you all bloody. Now take your bitch to the recovery room." Managing to pull themselves together, the two conscious twins lifted up their sibling and staggered off. Kilsera watched them go, smiling, then turned as Axel cleared his throat. "Axel? What are you doing here? This had better not be a return."

"It's not!" He said hastily. "Actually, I was hoping you and Mongo could help us with something? If we could discuss it privately?" Kilsera looked curious at that, and glanced over Roxas and Sora, idly licking her lips. Sora looked a little disturbed, but Axel patted him on the shoulder. He knew lip licking was completely normal for both Kilsera and Mongo, something their species did without thinking.

"For Vexen's boy, of course. Come to my office." She turned and walked away, leaving them to follow, and Sora gaped at the long, slender cat tail that flicked behind her as she walked. Axel smiled and poked him in the shoulder to get him moving.

Kilsera's office was very comfortable… almost more of a conference room, with a large table stacked with paperwork, a half dozen seats and several filing cabinets on the walls. Axel settled into one of the chairs, enjoying the plush feel of it. Kilsera did important business in this room, so everything was the best.

"Now, what can I do for you?" Kilsera directed her attention to Roxas, who shrugged, a bit lost.

"I'm not sure… this is Axel's idea." She transferred her attention to Axel, who grinned, a bit self-consciously.

"See… Sora here has a problem. He has a perfect memory and recall. His uncle has been using him as a recorder for something that must be really, really illegal and he wants to stop. But when his uncle told him that, he threatened to kill him, basically." Kilsera looked at Sora, who nodded with a sniff, his spikes drooping again. Axel smiled to himself as he saw Kilsera's eyes soften. She did have a soft spot, although she never let it affect her work. "So we want to get him someplace safe while we figure out what to do. The portal to this place is in Vexen's basement, and you and Mongo kick ass, so… yeah." Axel shrugged, and Kilsera nodded slowly.

"It's not among our usual services, but Vexen is a very good client. Very well… but it won't be cheap." She warned, and Roxas spoke up.

"Dad will pay for it. He might ground me forever and take away my allowance for years, but he'll pay for it." Roxas was certain of that, and Kilsera grinned.

"Well enough. Do you want us to train him a bit while he's here? He looks like he could use some toning up." Sora's eyes widened in something close to panic, and he looked at Axel helplessly… then looked a bit betrayed as Axel nodded.

"If you could. Just try to go easy on him." Axel smiled at Sora, and ruffled his hair. "You should try to learn something kiddo."

"You're mean." Sora accused him. He was pretty sure he had just been consigned to hard work and many bruises. Axel shrugged and smiled at the accusation.

"If you think he's mean, you haven't seen anything. But we'll go easy on you." Kilsera said with a laugh, licking her lips again. "The two of you, go back to Vexen and let him know the trouble you've brought him. I'll get Sora settled in." Sora looked at them both helplessly, but Axel shook his head and Roxas grinned. Sora was on his own now. Kilsera took his shoulder in a gentle grip and steered him out. "Now, this is the practice room…"

"We better go home." Roxas was sure Vexen could handle this, once they explained everything to him. His father could handle anything.

* * *

"Roxas, the teachers commed me at a meeting to say you left school. Do you have anything to say for yourself?" Vexen's message came in over Roxas datapad shortly after they got back to the manor. Vexen's image was true to life, and his voice was a touch tinny but clear.

"Yes, but not over a datapad. Dad, can you come home? Right now? We kind of have an emergency." There was a pause as Vexen considered.

"On a scale of one to ten, Roxas, how serious is this emergency?" Roxas paused as he thought hard. Vexen didn't like it when he was called home for anything, but… this was urgent.

"Uh, an eight?" He didn't want to overestimate but it was still quite serious. There was a sigh from the datapad.

"Very well. I will be home in thirty minutes." The connection cut out, and Roxas put away his datapad. Axel lifted his eyebrows, and shrugged.

"I'd have said it was a ten, myself." He had a bad feeling about this. Roxas shook his head.

"The manor is well defended and someone would have to be mad to launch an attack on my dad! He's a major high noble and he's on the Queen's court." Axel didn't pursue that… he didn't understand how the government worked here… but he frowned. He didn't understand those phrases he had committed to memory, but he couldn't shake the feeling that they meant something bad. They waited patiently for Vexen to arrive, and he finally walked into the room, looking more than a bit put out. Axel and Roxas both rose as he walked over.

"What is so urgent that I was forced to leave the Queen's bench?" He asked, irritated, and Roxas swallowed before he began to explain.

"Well, dad, it's like this…" And he quickly ran through the explanation of Sora's uncle. Vexen listened with a frown, and Axel could sense his sudden worry. "Sora gave us a sample of what his uncle has him memorize, but I didn't understand it."

"I remember it. I can repeat it." Axel offered, and Vexen nodded. His frown only deepened as Axel rattled off the phrases.

"Those… Axel, Roxas, do you have any idea what that means?" They both shook their heads and Vexen sighed. "You've just described the delivery of a large pharmacological and firearms shipment. I'm not a police officer, but I understand the acronyms." He rubbed his face with one hand as the two boys exchanged a glance.

"Pharmacological? Do you mean drugs? Illegal drugs?" Axel asked, just to clarify that he had things straight. Vexen nodded, and Axel swallowed as he saw the measured worry in the older man's eyes. Roxas just looked puzzled, but Axel had the feeling a shoe was about to drop.

"Yes. And Sora has served as this man's recorder…" Vexen paced for a moment, thinking, then suddenly stopped. "The two of you, return to the Twisted World. Go to Mongo and Kilsera's. Tell them… no. Wait." Vexen walked briskly out of the room, and came back a few minutes later with a bag. "Give them this and tell them it is for your upkeep, to use as they see fit. Also tell them that if all goes badly, they can use the deposits I made on the next class for that as well." Roxas looked at his father as if he'd never seen him before.

"Dad… you don't think Sora's uncle is going to try to DO something to you, do you?" Roxas couldn't keep the disbelief out of his voice, and Vexen scowled.

"Roxas, I don't think you understand the gravity of what you have done. Sora was this man's recorder. The information he holds would break this man, if given to the wrong people. By the way, do you know his uncle's name?" Axel shook his head and Roxas winced. That was an embarrassing omission. "No matter. I can find out. But the data Sora has would utterly destroy him if given to the police or a competitor. It doesn't matter whether he wants to confront me… he may be driven to desperation. And while my own safety is my business, I will not take chances with yours." Vexen's tone was as hard and unforgiving as iron, and Axel put a hand on Roxas shoulder as he started to protest.

"I'll keep him safe for you, sir." He said to Vexen, meeting the man's ice green eyes for a moment. Vexen held his gaze, then nodded.

"I know you will. Now go." Axel took the bag and pulled Roxas out of the room. Roxas was reluctant to go, but finally went.

"He can't really think they would…" Roxas muttered, and shook his head. "No one would ever attack dad. It's impossible!" Axel said nothing, but he thought Roxas was wrong. And Vexen knew he was.

In the end, no one was immune to reality. The mighty could always fall.


	7. Saix and Xemnas

Saix sighed, basking in the afterglow as Xemnas' brown, strong fingers lightly traced a pattern on his spine. He loved the younger man so much. He was still such an enigma… even though they had been dating for years, Saix really had no idea what he did for a living… but it didn't matter. He knew enough. Xemnas was everything to him.

"Ah, love. Stay here tonight." Saix lifted his head, frowning. That wasn't an uncommon request, but…

"I really should be getting back. Vexen's birthday is tomorrow, all the kids will be coming home." He yawned, and Xemnas chuckled softly, brushing his lips over his shoulderblade. That made Saix shiver in pleasure.

"Tomorrow is soon enough. Just stay with me, please." Saix hesitated a moment, then nodded. Vexen could manage without him tonight. "Thank you." For a long moment they just lay together, and Saix was almost dozing off when Xemnas spoke again.

"Saix, if Vexen was going to hide someone… a son, say… and wanted to be sure they would be safe, where would he send them? A cousin of mine is having some problems." Saix yawned, a bit surprised by that question.

"Mmmm… if it was really serious, the Twisted World. Send 'em to Mongo and Kilsera… the old monsters can take care of anything." Saix said sleepily, and Xemnas pressed a kiss to his forehead.

"Thank you, love. That was all I wanted to know." Saix drifted off to sleep, comfortable and warm in his lovers' arms. Xemnas waited until he was deeply asleep before gently disengaging himself from the blue haired man and walking into the next room. He didn't want to wake Saix, as he keyed on a datapad.

Saix didn't realize that his business was as illicit as it was lucrative. He'd been the head of a very large, very profitable crime syndicate for years. And he'd had a feeling this morning that his nephew was going to make trouble. It hadn't been hard to figure out who he'd left the school with… the teachers noted when students didn't arrive in class, and their nets were far from secure. And a quick check of Vexen's estates had revealed all his protections spooled up to max energy. There could only be one reason for that.

"What we need is in the basement, a portal to the Twisted World. When you arrive, look for Mongo and Kilsera. They will have him." He said quietly into the datapad, and nodded at the quick affirmative on the other end. Picking up a hypospray, he went back to Saix's bed. He dropped the spray on the bedstand, before slipping back into bed with his lover.

He really did love Saix, and wanted to enjoy the time with him. It would end all too soon.

* * *

"Of all the times for Saix not to come home!" Vexen cursed quietly to himself. He'd tried raising Saix on his datapad but gotten nothing. And the modified blood bond wasn't really strong enough for him to alert the man with nothing but emotions. He really should have had it renewed years ago… that sort of thing faded with time.

So he was doing his best to manage things himself. The chief of police wasn't in, though, and Vexen hadn't wanted to speak to anyone lower in the food chain. He hadn't even managed to find out the name of Sora's uncle yet, although he had Rodrick working on it. His son wasn't in the house yet, but didn't need to be to be useful.

In any case, nothing was likely to happen tonight. Vexen relaxed a little at the thought. After all, children went over to friend's houses all the time. The man would have to be certain Sora wasn't just playing hooky before he-

Vexen's thoughts slid to a cold, messy halt as the house trembled. Preternaturally calm, he flipped open his datapad.

"Rodrick- ah." His datapad was only giving him static. "Impressive." Tossing away the useless piece of equipment, he considered his options and came to an immediate conclusion. The safest place was the Twisted World. But he needed to evacuate the manor.

There were only four servants in the manor… the cook, the butler, the maid and the gardener. They were all blood bound indentured servants, although most of them had finished their contracts long ago. The cook and butler he found easily in the kitchen and sent them on their way with a few quick words. The maid was just as easy… she was checking on the status of the laundry. But then there was a snag.

"Do you know where Jacob is?" The maid shook her head.

"I think he's in the garden." Vexen sighed to himself. That was a logical place for the gardener to be and highly inconvenient. Praying that the force field would last long enough, he tightened his personal protections and went out the back to the garden. Without his datapad, he couldn't be certain how the defenses were coming and someone had to be using military ordinances to jam it. His datapad system was only civilian.

As soon as he opened the door, he knew he'd made a mistake. Swearing, he tried to slam it and dart back but a needler flashed, blowing the door out of his hand and impacting on his personal force field. He quickly ducked into a side room. If he could confuse them, lose them in the house-

But his enemies had other ideas and decided to create their own pathways. Plasma blasts scythed through the walls, and Vexen cursed out loud this time. Someone had gotten hold of more than a bit of military ordinance. He'd managed to do it himself so it was hardly impossible, but if he survived he would have to look into a full investigation of how plasma cannons, of all things, had gotten to the public.

Not that he was going to get the chance, he reflected with surprising calm. A blast lit up his force field, which held, but just barely. He could feel his skin burning under the thermal bloom. It was excruciatingly painful, and he felt Saix rouse with a jolt as the pain assaulted him through the blood bond.

Then the plasma cannon whined a second time and the pain came to an abrupt end.

* * *

"Vexen!" Saix was jerked to full consciousness with a blast of agony that wasn't his own. "No!" But even as he lunged out of bed, the agony cut off with a grim finality. Saix reached frantically for the blood bond, but it was gone… vanished with his master. "No…" Saix slumped back onto the bed, tears filling his eyes.

It was odd. He hadn't really been close to Vexen for years… they had been lovers at one time, of course. He'd taken Vexen's virginity, so long ago. But Vexen was simply too cold a person for him, not the kind of man he could love. They had stayed friends, though, and Vexen had been such a permanent part of his life. It seemed inconceivable that his master could be gone and he was surprised by the depth of his pain.

"It's alright, love. It's alright." Xemnas arms slipped around him and Saix sobbed into his shoulder, hugging the other man. It was good to have his lover to-

_Ksch._

Saix' eyes opened wide at the flash of pain on his shoulder, followed by a strange, overwhelming weakness. He collapsed against Xemnas like a rag doll, horrified realization flowing through him as Xemnas cradled him like a child, resting his head on his chest.

"Why…?" He managed to say, meeting Xemnas yellow eyes. The younger man smiled sadly at him, and gently touched his cheek with one hand. Saix could hardly feel it.

"I'm sorry, Saix. I do love you very much… but I knew there would be a time you would become a liability to me." Xemnas pressed a kiss against his forehead, and Saix wanted to jerk away but his body was beyond all control. "It would take more time than you have to explain why. I've given you a nanite injection keyed to your genetic code. It will only take a few moments, and it will be painless." The pain of the betrayal was unbearable. Saix closed his eyes, tears slipping down his cheeks. Xemnas brushed them away. "Ah, Saix… don't cry. It will be over soon." Saix opened his eyes, and could hardly see. The darkness was eating away at his vision, and he could feel his breathing slowing, becoming irregular as the nanites paralyzed his nervous system. He could feel himself dying, and Xemnas' arms were no comfort. _Vexen…_ with the last of his strength, he summoned up a picture of the one man he knew loved him. The one man who would never have hurt him.

And as he slid into darkness, Saix took comfort in one last thought… that Xemnas had made a mistake.

Old monster wasn't a term of endearment. It was a description.

Xemnas held the body close for a time, petting Saix' hair and pretending the older man was still alive. But finally, he lowered it to the bedsheets with a sigh and gently closed his eyes. Picking up his datapad, he made a quick call.

"I'll need a cleanup team in my bedroom. Instruct them to dispose of the body with the utmost dignity." That was an unusual request for him, but not unprecedented. It meant he wanted the body buried properly, without a marker but with the location noted so he could visit it in the future if he chose. And he would, for a while. Until the grief faded.

It would eventually. This wasn't the first time he'd needed to remove a loved one, and it wouldn't be the last. In fact, if things went badly, it would be happening again very soon.

Sora could not be allowed to talk.

* * *

"Axel." Roxas squirmed slightly, not terribly amused with the way Axel was gently caressing him. "We're not the only ones in here, you know." He could practically feel Sora watching from the other bed in the room, and could imagine his wide eyed look.

"I know." Axel murmured, sucking his earlobe and making Roxas gasp as he let go with a small pop. "It's kind of hot."

"Pervert!" Roxas tried to squirm away, but Axel had him trapped like a fly in amber. Axel grinned, his green eyes glittering with amusement.

"Oh, not really. We get trained to deal with all kinds of kinks, you know, and voyeurism is on the acceptable list as long as it's a private show." The contract stipulated that he didn't have to put on shows for more than one or two people, but if requested he would do that. "So I've had an audience before. Didn't like it at first, but it kind of grows on you… and Sora likes it, don't you?" He raised his voice and grinned as Sora made a muffled "eep!" sound. "Bet he'd like to join in." There was another eep, and Roxas sighed.

"I bet he would." He mumbled to himself. He could have just ordered Axel to get off and leave him alone… but the truth was, he didn't want the redhead to leave him alone. Everything he was doing was an incredible turn on, but he couldn't imagine doing it in front of Sora. "Sora, can you go take a long walk or something?"

"Right away!" Sora practically bolted out of the room, and Axel laughed, low and sexy.

"Someone was a little embarrassed…" Axel slowly lapped at his throat, freeing Roxas pajama bottoms as he went. It was nightfall in the Twisted World… the time was a bit offset from Roxas world. So it was technically time to sleep, but they were not at all tired, which spelled something else to Axel. "I think we should try something a little different." Roxas blinked as Axel turned him over, nipping at his skin and stroking his erection. "Doggy style… if you don't mind."

"Sure." Roxas breathed, going onto his hands and knees as Axel began to slowly open him again. It was easier now than it had been the first night, and soon Axel slid into him with a groan. It was all so delicious, so intense… so Roxas…

They were deep in the throes of their lovemaking when the building suddenly shook and alarms went off with a wail. Axel yanked out of him so abruptly that Roxas cried out in pain as the redhead dove off the bed, yanking on his clothes and trying to put on his armor. It was an uncomfortable and humiliating process, trying to get on leather armor in a state of full arousal.

"Axel!" Roxas half shrieked, his erection aching for release, his body in desperate need. But Axel shook his head as he tried to do up his buckles and ties.

"We're under attack Roxas!" Roxas blinked, then jumped out of bed and began frantically trying to put on his own clothes. He quickly discovered the same problem as Axel, although it wasn't as bad without armor. "Stay right here!" Axel darted out the door as the cold air started settling his difficulties.

The devastation in the front of the building settled it further. The front façade of the building was gone. Fortunately, there was no one at the front desk at night so casualties were minimal. The enemies couldn't say the same. Axel grinned ferally as he saw the building across the way was almost entirely rubble and quickly catching fire. He could guess what had happened… the attackers had had something very high tech and dangerous, and Kilsera had given them a graphic demonstration of how vulnerable such things were to magic.

Unfortunately for them, the attackers had figured out quickly that guns and plasma cannons were worse than useless. Now they were attacking with vibro blades, which were much harder to disrupt. But that put them on an even playing field with the bodyguards who were already spilling out of the building.

The melee was chaotic. Axel's chakram clashed with a sword and he blasted the man with fire. The man fell away with a scream but he wasn't dead, and Axel didn't see what happened to him, countering another strike. He could hear someone scream, and knew instinctively it was an ally but he was too caught up in his own battle to help. The few uninvolved bystanders on the street at this time of night were running for cover. Axel spotted Froggy, fighting with a rapier in her right hand and a magical shield on her left arm. She caught a blade on her shield and gutted her attacker with one smooth move.

Axel thought they were winning, but he was certain of it when he heard a vicious snarl. It gathered strength, rolling over the crowd like soft thunder and was quickly joined by a higher howl. Mongo leapt into the melee, muscles flexing under black skin as he shed his human guise and took his true form.

He looked like a were dire cat. It was the closest thing Axel could come up with to describe him, at least. Long and lean and obscenely fast, he tore through the attackers with a blaze of black skin and orange fur. His face was still disturbingly human, but his jaw and nose were pushed out into a kind of muzzle and he had no compunctions about tearing out throats. Someone panicked and lifted a gun, but Kilsera sang words of magic and the gun exploded in an eruption of flames. An invisible shield protected them, although Axel could feel the heat even from where he was standing… and the shield directed the fires back. Another building exploded into rubble, and Axel suddenly had a very bad feeling. He couldn't pay much attention to it… he was still fighting for his life… but he knew there were rules against this sort of thing. Someone would have to be coming to enforce-

_**ENOUGH.**_ The voice of an angry god slammed him to the ground, paralyzing him instantly. They were all affected that way… except for Mongo and Kilsera, who hunkered down, then rolled onto their backs, displaying abject submission like a cat. There was a puff of smoke, and a very young asian woman in bright robes appeared before them. Axel managed to look up and saw her expression. Either she was very angry or she was having a very bad attack of constipation.

"WHAT is going on here? Why are you ruining my lovely city?" Axel swallowed hard at the word 'my'. Was this an apprentice of Ya Tashra… or the wizard himself? Ya Tashra was supposed to be a man, but that might not necessarily mean anything. "My master demands an answer!" An apprentice then. Axel felt a surge of relief. Although she would be infused with her master's power to manage her duties. Mongo stayed on his back, but answered.

"My lady wizard, we have been attacked by visitors from the realm 1833. A child came to us for sanctuary and they have tried to take him back by force." The wizard turned her eyes on the surviving attackers.

"Have you anything to say for yourselves?" She asked remotely, and one of the goons finally spoke up.

"We're here to claim back our master's property. The kid is his nephew and he's the guardian. They had no right to take him." Axel snarled at the man but couldn't move, or he'd have tried to beat his head in.

"Hm." The wizard ran a hand up and down her staff thoughtfully. "Your motivations do not matter, in some ways. You have disgraced yourselves and damaged my city. Such brawls are not allowed here and as the visitors, you undoubtedly started this one. However… bring me this child. I would have words with him." Mongo flipped over onto his feet and said something to Kilsera, who nodded and reassumed her human form before running back into the building. Soon, she came out with a trembling Sora. Roxas was holding his hand, and Axel felt a surge of pride in him. Going to find Sora and keeping him out of harms way had been a smart thing for him to do. Sora stared at Mongo wide eyed, but Kilsera said something reassuring and gently urged him forward. Axel smirked as he saw the goons trying to move… but the wizard's apprentice had them firmly in her grip. "What is your name, child?"

"Sora." Sora said, his voice trembling, and she smiled gently at him. Sora seemed to arouse protective instincts in almost everyone.

"Tell me, Sora. Do you want to be here? Or do you want to be with your uncle?" She asked gently, and Sora blinked.

"Oh, I want to be here! I don't want to keep records for my uncle anymore. I hate knowing what he does! He's a terrible man. And this place is so neat, I want to stay here forever." The wizard laughed softly at his enthusiasm and smiled, a touch sadly.

"I doubt you'll do that, Sora. This is a place for passing through." She waved her staff and with brutal casualness, lances of red light shot out and obliterated the men and women she had captured. They were simply… gone. Except for the speaker, whose face was ashen with shock. "You will bring word back to your master. The gateway to your world is closed for the foreseeable future. Ya Tashra shall decide when it will open again… and he will tolerate no interference with this boy. You have been given your only warning. And if you doubt that we can find your master at any time…" She smiled, a baring of teeth that was in no way friendly. "…We shall demonstrate otherwise." Power rippled from her in a wave and a portal formed. Axel caught a brief glimpse of a startled man with dark skin and pale hair, and heard Sora's gasp as the man was tossed through. "Do not come here again!" The portal shut with an abrupt snap, and suddenly the bodyguards could move. Axel pushed himself to his feet and walked over to a pale faced, trembling Sora.

"That was your uncle?" He said softly, and Sora nodded. "Well, don't worry. He won't be a problem anymore." Ya Tashra moved on Ya Tashra time, so it might be decades before the portal was reopened. Although that meant… Axel caught Roxas eye, and saw his grim expression.

They were stranded in the Twisted World.

* * *

"What was that? Report!" Xemnas snapped at the luckless man kneeling on his bedroom floor. The foot soldier gasped for a moment before he managed to pull himself together.

"Sir! It was a disaster sir. The plasma cannons exploded and the needlers wouldn't work! Then that… that bitch showed up and she made the others disappear! She said they're closing the portal to our world for the foreseeable future and if we touch Sora someone named Ya Tashra will be after you. I'm sorry sir." Xemnas stared away as he patted the man's shoulder, thinking.

He knew the difference between influence and power. He had influence in many quarters… and direct power at the hands of his minions. But he had briefly seen the woman, and had felt the power radiating from her. She held power cupped in her two hands, and he did not want to cross her. Yet… he couldn't let Sora speak. But…

A small smile crossed his face. If the portal remained closed even for six months, he would have enough time to completely scramble the network. And the foreseeable future sounded like it could be much longer than six months. By the time Sora could return… if he wanted to return at all… his information would be hopelessly outdated. At that point he would cease to be a threat. Now all he had to do was cover his involvement in the attack on Vexen, and he would be safe enough. And he had already begun that process.

It wasn't the perfect solution and he'd have to keep an eye out in case the portal was opened too early. But it would have to do.


	8. Bonds of Love

"He's dead, isn't he." Roxas said quietly, and Axel sighed. It was early morning, and they had been awake for most of the night. Mongo and Kilsera had managed to find the servants, and Roxas had given some of the money Vexen had given him to them. They had left all their savings behind in his world, in the bank, and with the portal cut off they had nothing. What he'd been able to give them hadn't been too much… they had their own future to worry about… but it would tide them over until they found another place. But they hadn't found Vexen, and the maid had told them he was last seen going after the gardener. Who also hadn't been found.

"Yeah, he is." Axel hugged Roxas close as the blond began to quietly cry. Slow, heartbroken sobs.

"I never… got to give him… his rock…" Roxas buried his face against Axel's chest for a moment. "Never got to… say goodbye… never got to… tell him I l-love him…"

"Shhh. He knew, Roxas. And he loved you. That's why he sent you here, to be safe." Axel soothed Roxas as best he could. He understood his feelings perfectly. He'd never gotten to say those things to his mother either.

"So unfair… why? We just wanted to help Sora…" Axel said nothing at all, just holding Roxas until he finally cried himself to sleep.

It was all he could do. The truth… that life and death had nothing to do with fair… wouldn't help Roxas at all. They both slept fitfully and woke too early the next day and joined the trainees for breakfast.

"Uck. What is this?" Sora poked something on his plate dubiously. Axel glanced over then rubbed his face. He was so tired he felt a bit sick, and Roxas didn't look any better.

"Picked egg. Eat it." Sora looked dubious but tried it, then made a face. Breakfast at Mongo's was not what he was used to… or Roxas either, but Roxas just wasn't eating. There was brown rice with pickled vegetables, pickled eggs and plenty of oranges. Sora finally settled on the oranges as the best part. Axel cleaned his plate without complaint. He'd been eating this breakfast for five years. Lunch and dinner had some variety, but breakfast never changed.

"Uh, if you're not going to eat that can I have it?" A young man tentatively asked Roxas, who looked at him blankly and pushed the plate over. "Thanks!" He tucked in with gusto, and Axel smiled faintly as he remembered his own growth spurt. For a while, he'd never felt full, even when he was allowed seconds.

"Eat an orange, Roxas. We have some stuff we need to do today." Axel said quietly. Roxas looked up at him blearily.

"Like what? We can't go home and dad's dead." Sora winced and looked down at his plate. He was blaming himself for Roxas' problems. Axel shook his head.

"We need to think about the future, Roxas." Axel said softly, then sighed. "If you want, I can look into it for you." He gently touched Roxas cheek, and ran his hand through the spiky blond hair. "Maybe you should go back to bed." Roxas shook his head.

"No. I couldn't sleep, and I want to be with you." He didn't want to try to sleep in an empty bed. Not right now. Axel nodded, his green eyes sad.

"Alright Roxas." He sighed, standing up and carrying his plate to the bin. "We need to go see Mongo and Kilsera first. Figure out what we're doing." He had a few ideas, but they depended on whether or not the two would cooperate.

Mongo and Kilsera were in their office, and when he knocked politely on the door he was immediately called in. He winced faintly as he saw they had been sharing a breakfast… the same food they gave the trainees.

"I hope we're not interrupting?" Mongo grinned and ate a pickled egg as Kilsera shrugged.

"We can eat and talk at the same time. You're thinking about the future, Axel?" Axel nodded, and Kilsera smiled faintly. "So like you. What have you come up with?" She was sure Axel would have a plan ready to go. That was like him, too. Axel hesitated a moment, then shrugged.

"I was hoping you might be willing to teach Roxas and Sora how to fight, for a portion of the money Vexen left with us." Kilsera lifted her eyebrows as Mongo stopped eating for a moment, and they exchanged glances.

"We don't normally take students." Kilsera said slowly. "Although Sora has shown some aptitude, even in the brief time he's been with us. But are you sure this is what you want to do?" Roxas was frowning at Axel, unsure about this idea. Axel shrugged heavily.

"I don't know ma'am. But it's all I can really think of. The skills they have in their world aren't any use here, and I know the two of you… if they have any ability at all, you can make them into warriors. And mercenaries are always in demand. We could make a good living as caravan guards." Axel rubbed his face tiredly. "It's what I know." He could think of a few other things they could possibly do… wizarding or street performances… but those required talents too. And then Axel would have to find work by himself, and that would possibly split them up.

"Not a bad idea. But I'm not going to agree… unless we can test them out with the enchanted weapons first." Mongo rumbled, licking his lips. "You know we select all of you partly through divinations, Axel. I'm not wasting my time on them if they haven't the knack." Axel nodded. He knew what Mongo was talking about. Kilsera spent part of her time scrying, searching the oracles for hints of where a good candidate for their program would be found. The talents needed to be a bodyguard, courtesan, thief and assassin weren't exactly common. So they had very high standards on who they would teach.

"Would you be willing to do that this morning? Might as well find out now." If he had to come up with an alternate plan, Axel wanted to know right away.

"Do what?" Roxas rubbed his face with one hand tiredly. "I'm not up to much, Axel." Axel gave him a quick side hug.

"I know. You won't have to do anything, really… just touch the weapons. If one of them speaks for you, then you've got some ability." Axel called in one of his chakram. "My weapons spoke for me as soon as I got here." Roxas nodded.

"Wait until we finish breakfast, though." Mongo said with a grin, and Axel nodded. "Meet us in the weapon room."

"Sure." Standing, Axel went to go collect Sora and soon had him and Roxas in the weapon room.

"Wow!" Sora gaped at the rows of weapons and the suits of armor. Everything was kept in perfect condition, and the weapons gleamed. There was everything from whips to throwing stars. Roxas blinked, and walked up to something that looked like the bastard offspring of a pike and a scythe. Running a finger over it, he winced and jerked his hand back. He'd gotten a shock from the weapon. Axel watched with a smile.

"Yeah, that's not the weapon for you. Just take a look at them, and touch anything that feels good." Roxas frowned, sucking on his finger for a moment before he started to look through the weapons. A few of them felt tolerable, like a bronze shortsword, and he picked them up… but none of them felt right. Mongo walked in as he and Sora were still looking.

"Ohhh, what are these?" Sora called from the back of the room, and Mongo paced over to stand beside him. In his human form, he was a very tall, very bulky man with the same hair and ears as Kilsera. He licked his lips thoughtfully before he answered.

"Those are keyblades. Very rare, very unusual. We wouldn't have them at all, but the oracles demanded we go to a particular shadow world and told us to take what we could." Mongo grinned, a quick flash of sharp white teeth. "There were hundreds of the things, just scattered across the ground. But they all vanished as we touched them except for these. When we finished, we had nine." He gestured to the blades on the wall. "We have never found anyone who could use them. If you want to try, be my guest." A bit daunted, Sora and Roxas examined the blades on display.

Their appearances varied widely. There was everything from a very simple key of silver to a spiky blade of brilliant purple and orange. Sora tried to touch one of the prettiest ones first, but immediately pulled his hand back… the blade didn't feel right for him. Out of pure randomness, he grabbed the plainest next, the silver keyblade with the yellow hilt.

"OH!" The keyblade vanished in sparks, and Sora gaped at his empty hand. "Did I break it?" Mongo gaped at him for a moment as Axel and Roxas exchanged a glance, then he laughed.

"No! The keyblade bonded to you. Call it back to yourself." Sora blinked, and summoned the blade back. "Hah! Finally, a keyblade wielder. We will teach you after all. Do you know its name?"

"Uh… it's the Kingdom Key." Sora said after a brief moment, blinking. "I don't know how I knew that."

"That's normal for keybladers…" Roxas tuned them out as he examined the blades on the wall. Now that Sora had one… he really wanted one. It would be a real kick in the nuts if Sora was trainable and he wasn't. But he felt helpless as he looked at the blades. Slowly trailing his fingers over them, he finally stopped. The blade made his fingers tingle and seemed to speak to something deep inside him. He examined it closely… it was a very odd looking blade. The end of it resembled Axel's chakram's, but beneath that was icy spikes… and the hilt was a black and white checkered pattern with a black handguard. Yet somehow, it suited him, and he gripped the keyblade, lifting it up. Sora and Mongo both turned to look as the keyblade vanished in sparks. "Two of you? This must mean something." Mongo licked his lips again as he thought. "We will have to ask the oracles. But there must be great deeds in store for you. What is its name?"

"It's…" Roxas summoned back the blade and just looked at for a moment before he found the answer. "It's the Bond of Love." His breath came short as he realized what each part of the blade stood for. The hilt was himself… the end was Axel… and the frosty spikes were for his cold, spiky yet supportive father. "Oh, dad…" Roxas sniffed as Axel's arms went around him, holding him close. They keyblade vanished again as Roxas clung to the redhead, crying. But it was a clean hurt, now, and somehow… he knew he would mend.

And no matter what, Vexen would always be with him.

* * *

"Roxas?"

"Mmm?" Roxas glanced over his shoulder at Axel sleepily. They were in bed, finally getting some sleep… and nothing but sleep. Roxas wasn't in the mood for more and Axel was content just to cuddle him from behind. Axel smiled at Roxas and gently kissed his shoulder.

"I was just thinking. We need to modify the blood bond." That woke him up completely, and Roxas frowned.

"Why?" He couldn't see a reason they should. It was still going very strong from the original bonding. Unless… "You want to be free?" Roxas couldn't help but feel a stab of hurt at that. But Axel was doing so much for him now… much more than was in his job description. He deserved to be free if he wanted.

"Don't be silly. With how much your dad paid for me? No, that's not it. It's my contract." Roxas looked at him blankly, and Axel sighed. "Right now you've got to pay me every two weeks or the blood bond breaks. Remember?"

"Oh!" Roxas flushed, remembering the terms of the contract. That was part of the arrangement. Axel's salary wasn't too much… but they were paying Mongo and Kilsera a lot of money to get trained and stay in the training centre. Their nest egg was going fast, and it would eventually be gone… and when they were out there as mercenaries, Axel would be making just as much as him. There was an emergency clause in the contract, that payments could be deferred for up to six months, but this didn't really qualify anymore. And even if it did, he'd have to pay all the backed wages at the end of six months or the bond would break anyway. "I hadn't thought of that. What did you have in mind?"

"Well…" Axel hesitated, then smiled crookedly. "I wouldn't do this for just anyone. But I saw your keyblade." Roxas blushed again as he realized Axel had seen himself in it. But then, the representation of his weapon wasn't hard to spot. "I think we should just make it a blood bond in the old style. No more contracts… just the oath of fealty from a knight to his lord. That's what the blood bond was, a long time ago."

"But what would that mean for you?" Roxas didn't want to chain Axel even more firmly to him than he was now. Axel smiled, amused.

"It'd mean I could disobey you any time I chose, and you wouldn't have to pay me… but my loyalty would be yours. My heart would be in your hands." Roxas shivered as Axel breathed the next words in his ear. "But it is already. We'd just be making it official." The bond would still be one way in terms of pain… Axel would request that… but it could be made two-way in the sense that Roxas would be able to detect where he was. That would be very useful for a mercenary pair. Roxas wiggled around until he was facing Axel, looking up into his face, and Axel melted inside at the look in his big blue eyes.

"Oh Axel… I love you so much." Roxas kissed Axel, a warm, tender kiss. "What did I do to deserve you?"

"What did I do to deserve you?" Axel countered, and chuckled softly. "Just be yourself, Roxas. Just be yourself…" Roxas sighed faintly, and nuzzled Axel's throat for a moment before he started to doze off again.

It was a good start to the rest of their lives.

* * *

"Sora! Swing it harder! Hit me like you mean it! You're such a goddamn girl!" Only a few weeks ago, Mongo's basso roar would have sent Sora cowering. But now, the brunette pressed his attack, trying to obey the instructions. "Better!" Axel grinned as he watched the matches, resting from his own practice bouts. He didn't need training, but since he was there anyway he was helping with the other trainees. And it helped keep his skills sharp.

When he had started, Sora had had a terrible problem that he was just now beginning to get over… he was afraid of hurting his sparring partner. No matter how many times it was explained that the training weapons and armor had special enchantments that prevented anything more than bruises and the rare broken bone, Sora found it very hard to strike out. Mongo had finally solved the problem by giving Sora dozens of bruises until the boy started going on the attack out of sheer self defense. Which wasn't kind, but really was the best way to handle that particular problem. It wasn't the first time they had seen it, although it was usually something they got from girls… something Mongo didn't hesitate to remind Sora of.

Roxas was entirely another matter, and Axel turned his attention to the blond. He was sparring with a first year trainee and already showing a fair level of competence. He wasn't going to win any prizes yet and in a real battle he would be dead meat, but it was very good for only a few weeks. His sparring partner had been practicing for months and they were holding even.

"Hey Roxas! Kick him in the fork!" Axel called as he spotted an opening, and Roxas obeyed without thinking. The other trainee yelped… the armor protected him from most of the pain, but not all of it. "Good job!" Roxas grinned, then had to duck as the other trainee swore and tried to take his head off. Not that he would have, but the bruise could have been painful. The training match dissolved into wrestling as the other trainee tackled him and thumped Roxas' head into the mat. "Ouch!" Roxas demonstrated what he had learned of unarmed combat, and managed to turn the tables on the trainee, punching him in the jaw. Axel frowned… this was going a bit far. "Time out, you two!" He said in a tone of command, and they reluctantly separated. "Go cool off a bit." Temper didn't have a place in the training bouts, and it was clear they were both getting hot under the collar.

"Not bad." Mongo said as he put an end to his match with Sora. "Now, go spar with Roxas and don't you dare hold back!" Sora blushed… if hitting Mongo was hard, hitting his friends was even harder. But Roxas wouldn't hold back on him anymore than Mongo would. Soon the two were clashing blades, and Axel stood, going to some of the more advanced students.

Lunch came, and they all ate with tremendous appetite. Today's meal was beef and noodles with a spicy, minty sauce and roasted bell peppers. It was wonderful, and Axel sighed as he licked his spoon clean. He'd gotten very fond of this kind of cooking in his time here, and there was nothing quite like it on Roxas' world. The spices were from Mongo and Kilsera's home, which was a very strange place.

"So what are we going to do now?" Sora said enthusiastically, and Axel grinned.

Unlike the other students, they had no lessons in the evening. Mornings were spent on training, while evenings were spent on languages, foreign customs, assassination techniques… everything a well rounded graduate of Mongo and Kilsera's program would need. But it wasn't likely those lessons would be very useful for Sora and Roxas, and they'd managed to get a discount for leaving them out. Which was good… as it was, they were only going to be able to afford a year of lessons before they needed to strike out on their own. But Mongo and Kilsera swore that two keyblade holders should have no problem learning in that length of time.

So they had the evenings free to do whatever they liked. They didn't have much money that was unspoken for, but Axel had managed to do some street busking with his fire abilities. He didn't make much money at it, but they could sometimes go have a good time.

"Hmm, let me see…" Axel checked the contents of his wallet. "Ohh, I forgot that one guy gave me a golden straw! We can go do something nice. Hey, I heard Ya Tashra opened a new portal to some kind of beach paradise world. Apparently, they don't have a lot to trade but it's pretty much a tourist's paradise. Want to try it?"

"Sure!" Sora agreed and Roxas smiled. The great benefit of living in the Twisted World was that wonderful vacations were at your fingertips. In worlds that had something valuable to trade, the portals were usually situated in towns… but worlds that had little often had their portals in prime tourist attractions. And some worlds had more than one portal so they could have both. Axel personally suspected that Ya Tashra enjoyed being able to reach his favorite vacation spots instantly, but it was hard to prove. Certainly everyone else appreciated it.

The beach, when they got to it, lived up… or down… to their expectations. There was a massive party going on and vendors were selling food, drink and renting out surf boards. It was a little too crowded, perhaps, but that was easy to ignore when you got off the beach and into the water.

"Aaaa!" Sora tentatively tried surfing, and immediately took a spill. "Axel!" Axel grinned, expertly riding a wave and ignoring the sputtering brunette. "How do you do that?"

"I'm marvelous!" He called back and laughed. He was unaware of being watched.

* * *

"Sora, when did this party start up?" Riku was amused but mystified by the sudden appearance of so many strangers on the Destiny Islands. Sora scratched his head.

"Well, the mayor did say he was aggressively pursuing tourist opportunities." The Destiny Islands had always been a sleepy little place. But that meant it was rather poor in some ways.

"Yeah, but the mayor is a windbag. I can't believe he pulled this off." Riku frowned a little as a woman with a small lizard clinging to her shoulder walked by. "…And some of these people are really weird." That was putting it mildly. From where he was standing, he could see what looked like a wizard, wearing nothing but his pointy hat and swimshorts, reading a book in the sun. He could also see a little blond girl with pointy ears, a cat with bat wings…

He frowned as he saw two people surfing, and squinted, trying to make them out better. They looked… familiar.

"Sora, that kid over there… he sure looks like you. And the guy with him looks like Axel." That was beyond odd. The Nobody was dead… and Sora was right beside him. "And that kid looks like Roxas."

"Huh?" Sora pushed himself forward, and tilted his head to one side. "…They do. But they can't be! It's just a coincidence, Riku." He said it confidently. What else could it be? Riku nodded slowly.

"Yeah, a coincidence…" But he made a silent promise to himself to look into the mayor's tourism plans.

This was weird and he wanted to know more.


	9. Hopeless Love

"Axel." Roxas moaned his name as Axel slowly pumped his erection. "God, Axel, stop teasing me!" Axel grinned and spoke in his ear.

"You know you love it." Roxas was on his hands and knees again… and this time, things were going to be different. Axel's erection was pressed firmly against Roxas warm, sweet ass, but he wasn't going inside just yet. He wanted to make Roxas squirm and plead.

"Axel, please! Ah…" Roxas gasped as Axel flicked his tip. "Dammit, Axel, take me! And if you pull out this time I'm going to kill you." Axel chuckled softly.

"Well, since you asked so nicely…" Axel gripped his hips, slowly sliding inside as Roxas moaned at the pleasure and pain. "Ah, Roxas…" He started thrusting, quick and hard, and the sounds they were making dissolved into pants and groans. Axel stroked Roxas in time with his thrusts, making the blond cry out in pleasure and roll his hips back, deepening the penetration.

"…?" Riku frowned as he heard something… odd. He was walking through the woods, taking a shortcut home, but he could hear voices. That was really odd. It was getting late and the party on the beach had been winding down for hours. Who would be out here in the woods? And there was an odd slapping sound… he hesitated, then followed the sounds to the source.

"Axel!" A low, sexy moan greeted him as he saw the couple, kneeling in a bed of moss, the blond haired boy getting reamed hard from behind. Riku's jaw dropped open as he blushed furiously, unable to look away as the red haired man bit the blond's shoulder, then licked the bite as he kept pumping away. "AH!" Riku nearly swallowed his tongue as the redhead looked up… and met his eyes. Bright green, achingly familiar eyes locked onto aquamarine ones, and then the man… Axel?... smiled like a satisfied cat.

Axel, meanwhile, had just spotted the watcher although he had no idea who it could be. But it didn't matter. Maybe it was his early training or maybe it was just his nature, but being watched was a turn on. Then Roxas clenched around him, and he completely forgot to care about the watcher.

"Roxas…!" He groaned as Roxas tight, delicious heat drove him close to the edge. Roxas was panting helplessly, his erection sliding through Axel's fingers. It was all too much, the pleasure behind him and the fingers in front, and Roxas came with a small scream. He tightened convulsively around Axel, and the redhead came a moment later, emptying himself into the blond.

"So good…" Axel glanced up, trying to find those eyes, but the watcher was gone. "Hm." He decided not to mention it to Roxas, and gently cuddled the blond against his chest. They could rest a bit… but then they would have to collect Sora and go home. Time was offset again, so it felt earlier for them than it was here. Still, they needed their sleep.

"Oh Axel." Roxas settled against him with a sigh, and Axel smiled, holding the blond.

They could leave a bit later.

* * *

"I need a cold shower. Oh god, my mind feels seared." Riku gripped his head, pulling on his hair for a moment. "Axel and Roxas?" That couldn't be a coincidence. But who were these people? Clearly they weren't Nobodies… well. They could be Nobodies, he supposed. But if so they weren't wearing the Organization uniform. And Roxas was part of Sora and Axel was dead…

Riku was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't notice he was heading completely the wrong direction. Not until he almost ran into a very familiar boy.

"Sora!" Riku said, relieved, and the brunette blinked at him in surprise.

"Um. Yes? Do I know you?" Riku's jaw dropped for a moment until he realized this had to be the other boy… the other Sora? They were identical… no. Now that he was very close to the boy, he could see that they weren't. This Sora looked a bit younger. But that was the only difference he could see.

"Uh… we've only been friends since childhood." Riku said slowly, and Sora looked confused for a moment… then suddenly smiled. It was the exact same smile.

"OH! I get it! This is a shadow world! Those portals should come with warning labels." Riku frowned. Shadow world? He didn't like the sound of that.

"Shadow world?" He questioned as something distracted Sora. That drew the brunette's wandering attention back to him.

"Right! Shadow worlds… well, technically they're universes, Axel says that's a really bad word for them but what can you do? Um… right, shadow worlds are places where everything is different. History went differently, things went differently… even the rules of reality can be different! It's pretty awesome. But the bad part about shadow worlds is that if you go to one you can meet your dop alts. And sometimes they won't like you." Sora paused and said anxiously. "My dop alt won't hate me will he? Axel had a bad time with one once. Mongo had to chase him off." Riku blinked, feeling like he was being overwhelmed with words. Did this Sora ever stop to breathe?

"Slow down a bit… you lost me at dop alts. What is that?" Sora's hair drooped for a moment, and Riku stared, fascinated. That was another difference… his Sora's hair had never been a sign of his mood.

"Oh, I'm sorry." The hair perked back up again as Sora continued cheerfully. "Dop alt stands for doppelganger alternate. Kind of silly but there you go again. If you go to a shadow world you can meet yourself, but it's not yourself! Completely different history. Sometimes it can get really weird too. For instance, you've been friends with my dop alt all his life right?" Riku swallowed, and nodded. "Well, there's probably a shadow world out there where you're the same person! Axel has a friend named Rude who's like that. His middle name is Reno and he once met two guys named Rude and Reno who were doing what he does. He said that was freaky and he wanted to scrub himself, I'm not sure why…"

"Fascinating. Where is this portal?" Riku had no idea what he would do about this, if anything. But he was going to have a word with Sora about the mayor's tourism initiative. Some things were just too much. Sora pointed up the beach.

"That big house at the end of the beach." Riku nodded. That made perfect sense… it was the mayor's second house. No doubt he did have to sacrifice using it, but putting the portal there gave the visitors ready access to the path to town and the beach and also kept the portal firmly under his control. Riku wondered if the mayor had told the police about this… such as the police were, on the Destiny Islands. Probably. Sooner or later, something bad was bound to come through this portal. On the other hand, something bad could show up from any tourism effort. So maybe this whole thing wasn't as insane as it first appeared. The people so far had been weird, but not dangerous… just people looking to have a good time.

"Thanks Sora. I'm glad to find out about this." Sora beamed, and Riku smiled and ruffled his hair. He was such a cute kid… just like his own Sora. Then he turned as he heard a crackling of bushes behind him.

"Axel, Roxas! Finally! You take so long having sex!" Riku blinked, hearing that from Sora, but Axel just laughed as Roxas blushed. "I was going to leave without you!"

"Pthh, empty threat. You still throw up going back through the geometry lesson." Riku tried briefly to understand that, then gave up. Some things were beyond comprehension and it probably wasn't worth asking. Green eyes met his again, and Riku swallowed as Axel smiled at him. "Hey there." The laughter in his eyes made Riku certain the redhead knew exactly who had been spying on them. And that sent him into full retreat.

"I, uh, need to get home. Later Sora. Come back sometime." He mumbled, and then quickly left. Just looking at Axel and Roxas was bringing back certain images.

"Sure will!" Sora called after him and waved as Axel chuckled. "Guess what, this is a shadow world and I have a dop alt here! But Riku says she's nice and won't hurt me." Sora said happily, and Axel frowned and shrugged.

"Well, that's good. But let's go. I don't think this place could survive two of you for long. Overload of sunshine and butterflies." Sora pouted as Roxas laughed. Axel grinned, and threw his arms over both their shoulders as they headed back home.

It had been a very good way to end the day.

* * *

Elsewhere, in a world that was both far away and oddly close.

Riku sighed, running a hand through her hair as she looked in the mirror. It was really just distressing. But what could she do about it?

"I look like a damn boy." She mumbled, before picking up her toothbrush and vigorously brushing her teeth. When she was younger, her androgynous looks had been nothing important. She'd been a tomboy anyway, so being mistaken for a boy had been fun. But it shouldn't be continuing after puberty.

Unfortunately, it was. Maybe it would have helped if she'd done like Kairi and worn a dress… but she hated dresses. And she thought they made her look like a boy in drag. It wasn't really that much of an improvement. She had the tiniest A-cup breasts in the world and almost no hips. And she was too well muscled. It just wasn't fair. Rinsing her mouth out, she slammed down the cup with unnecessary force before leaving the bathroom and its mocking mirror. She needed to go meet Sora and Kairi.

Sometimes, Riku wondered why she kept torturing herself this way. She loved Sora. Loved him with all her heart. And she knew, with absolute certainty that he was never going to return the feeling. She'd made it abundantly clear how she felt… her lips curved up for a moment as she remembered one sun warmed afternoon, where they had taken each other's virginity. It hadn't been that good… but it had been Sora. And the encounters they'd had after that had gotten better. But she'd always been the one initiating them and that just wasn't right. And Sora had just kept treating her as a friend… he'd seemed completely oblivious to her attempts to get them to date. When she asked if he wanted to go somewhere, his innocent response was always to ask if Kairi could come. Riku had finally given up. It was simply hopeless. They were good friends and what they had done was practice for Kairi. Nothing more.

And now she was going to meet them on the beach. She had to be a masochist. There was no other explanation. But… Sora was her friend. And that was better than nothing.

Wasn't it?

Sighing, Riku slowly walked down to the beach. She was oblivious to the sun on her face and the beauty of the island. All that mattered was her private misery. Misery that increased as she saw Sora and Kairi chatting on the beach.

"Riku!" Kairi said happily as she walked up. "Guess what? We're going to the movies on Friday." Riku stood still for a moment, before forcing a smile onto her face.

"That's great, Kairi." Sora was grinning as if there was no reason in the world for Riku to be upset, and for a moment she wanted to hit him. But it slid away into despair. Why should he think that she would be upset? They hadn't been intimate over a year. He couldn't know that she felt like her heart was going to die.

_I have to get out of this place._ Riku swallowed as she realized the truth of that thought. She had nothing to hold her here anyway. Her father scarcely noticed her and her mother had died when she was just a child. And Sora and Kairi would get along fine without her. Although they would… want her. They would try to find her. Riku sighed to herself, and thought for a moment. She needed to go far, far away… but where?

"Something wrong, Riku?" Kairi said questioningly, and Riku pulled her attention back to her friends.

"Nothing, Kairi. Just thinking." And just like that, a place occurred to her. A place that they might look for but would be unlikely to find. DiZ had shown her the location of the portal to the Twisted World. Riku had even been there once, but the spiral world had freaked her out to no end. The portal would be unused now… it might have been closed and moved, Ya Tashra didn't usually leave portals active when no one was using them. On the other hand, things could slip his mind. It would be worth going to see. "Hey Sora, I was wondering if I could use the gummi ship?"

"Uh, sure! Why?" Sora asked, puzzled, and Riku smiled faintly.

"Just want to check up on something. I thought I could do it Friday, since you'll be at the movies." Sora seemed on the brink of questioning her further, but Kairi smiled and distracted him.

"Okay!" Riku's smile faded as they took each other's hands.

Friday couldn't come soon enough.

* * *

"Still here." Riku stared at the portal to the Twisted World. Once she went through, there would be no going back. The gummi ship would eventually depart when she didn't return, and then there would be no way out of Twilight Town. If she did return, she would be stranded. So for a moment, she hesitated.

But only for a moment. She needed to get away too badly. It was time to take a step into the darkness of the unknown. She touched the portal and was standing in the Twisted World.

Turning around slowly, she took in her surroundings… an old, disused courtyard with only a handful of portals. But even as she turned, she saw the portal behind her close… completely. With a brief twinkle, it was gone, and Riku swallowed hard.

"Was that portal still here for me?" She asked the Twisted World, but there was no answer. Perhaps her use of it had simply used up the last of its power. Or perhaps it had been left active just for her. The ways of wizards were very hard to fathom.

Sighing, she picked up her backpack and slung it over one shoulder. She was certainly stranded now. Sora and Kairi might look for her, but they would never find her. Hopefully they wouldn't look too hard. She'd made it clear in her letter that she didn't want to be found.

But Sora could be so bone-headed. Riku did hope he didn't hurt himself trying, but there was nothing more she could do. Walking out briskly, she joined the crowds thronging through the streets of the Twisted World.

She would find something to do. Riku wasn't sure what, but there would be something.


	10. Lube is not Glue

"LolomgwtgDairyQueenlolomgwtgbbdq." Someone was singing in a rather good voice. Axel squinted, wondering if he was hearing things. The song made no sense whatsoever.

It was a typical night in the World's End Tavern. The smoke was heavy and the crowd was as mixed as it was possible to be without a blender being involved. At a nearby table, a pair of tiny guardian dragon spirits were squaring off for a bought of fisticuffs. People around them were already taking bets on the outcome. Suddenly a wizard staggered up from the bar and started to scream an incantation as the bartender cut him off. Axel winced… the bar was protected, but still… but a witch down the bar idly pointed a finger at the wizard and muttered a cantrip. The wizard doubled over in a massive sneezing fit, and the bouncer hit him neatly over the back of the head. There was clapping as the bouncer dragged him out to dump in the alley. The witch got a free drink for her help.

"Wizards have no business drinking if they can't hold their booze." Axel remarked, drinking his Demon's Tears. "How do you like the Winter Wine, Sora?" They were celebrating a bit, so Axel had gotten them a bottle of the Winter Wine to share. Sora beamed.

"It's great! I love it." Roxas sipped his carefully, savoring the flavor. They wouldn't be able to get a second bottle. After this, if they wanted something, they'd have to settle for a lesser vintage. Sora wasn't as careful, and Axel winced a little as he gulped his wine. Still, he was definitely enjoying it.

It was six months later, and their training was going much better than Axel had dared hope. Mongo and Kilsera were just giving Sora and Roxas finishing touches now… and Axel himself was sparring with them both. They would be able to end the lessons early, and that meant they would still have a bit of a nest egg when they started looking for work. That was good, since it wasn't necessarily easy for brand new mercenaries to find work. You got a reputation over time. Although being trained with Mongo and Kilsera would help.

"Axel!" Axel looked up with a blink as someone very familiar arrived at his table. The tanned skin, brilliant grin and spiky red hair were unmistakable.

"Rude. How's it going?" He glanced over to the door, but couldn't see Doctor Rufus. "Where's your boss?" That was a bit odd. The good doctor could usually be counted on to show up for alcohol. Rude shrugged, grabbing a chair and sitting down.

"He's got a girl these days. She's traveling with us." Rude grinned, a touch evilly. "She's my girl too." Axel blinked, but quickly understood. Rufus and Rude were lovers and in love, although neither one was prepared to admit it. But they both liked girls just fine as well. "You know her, her name is Froggy." Axel blinked again, then laughed. Given what he know of Froggy's sexual preferences and love of action, she was probably fitting in like jam on toast. Rufus must have purchased her contract. Probably at a cut rate, since her first owner had lost half his payment.

"Sounds great! Good for you. Froggy's the best. But did you want something? …Besides a free drink." He said dryly as Rude stole a small glass of winter wine. Rude grinned, sipping it slowly.

"Actually, yeah. The good doctor is putting together an expedition in a few months, and I heard you're about ready to take off. He might be willing to give you a down payment to come along. This looks to be a really good one." Roxas and Sora both looked interested at that, but Axel was dubious. A good one by Rufus Shinra's standards was a horrible one by most normal people standards. And Rude's standards were just as skewed.

"What do you mean by a good one?" He asked, and Rude grinned.

"Suspicious! Well, you see, the good doctor has found a world that was just recently connected to the Twisted World. It's a rather remarkable place, and they're already trading plenty of precious metals, gems and biological, ahem, items. Furs and whatnot. But you wouldn't believe the quality! Anyway, tourism isn't being allowed because apparently this place is very odd. There's some kind of ambient power, and if you stay there long enough you start turning into demons or angels, depending on where you live. Although all that means is you adapt to hot or cold, and get a few extra powers, apparently." Axel frowned. This sounded odd, but it was no stranger than Mongo and Kilsera's homeworld. He nodded and gestured for Rude to continue. "Now, peace has broken out between the demons and angels recently. Something about someone named Bon-Bon. Be that as it may, that means the demons are launching all kinds of trips into the deep south to find and bring back those biological riches I mentioned. Over half the expeditions aren't coming back, so it's a bit rough down there. Normally we'd never get to go on a safari there, but Rufus went and talked to the High Lord personally. And amazingly, he's your dop alt! What a thing."

"Mine?!?" Axel blinked, a bit taken aback. His one experience with dop alts had been anything but positive. The man had screamed something at him about why did he have a heart, and promptly tried to remove it. Mongo had needed to half kill him to make him go away. "You're kidding, I hope." Rude smiled and shook his head. "We're not going."

"Oh, come on Axel. You won't meet him and he's alright. Rufus already mentioned you to him." Axel glowered, quietly wishing a plague of fleas on Doctor Shinra. "The High Lord gave us permission to go, but we have to be in the Dark Land a few months before we start to adapt to the heat. Otherwise we'd choke… apparently, the air gets thicker the farther South you go. Fortunately, adapting to the heat and pressure happens quickly."

"Why did the High Lord give you permission to… oh. You're going to catalogue things for him, aren't you." Axel sighed to himself. Rufus wasn't interested in money… he was already stinking, filthy rich. He was a scientist and explorer, and he loved finding treasures, be they new animals or ancient ruins. He reminded Axel of Indiana Jones… only worse.

"Indeed. Apparently, even though he trusts plenty of the demons that are going down there, they have all the scientific sense of a bunch of rabid raccoons. So he's willing to let Doctor Shinra have a go." Rude said cheerfully. "So. Are you interested? We're paying a fee up front, and a percentage of the profits." Axel considered. It would be very dangerous, or Rude wouldn't be approaching them.

"How much money are we talking about?" Axel asked, and Rude named a figure that made him blink. "…Huh." It was very good money. And that wasn't counting the percentage. "Ah… we'll have to talk about it. Will you be here tomorrow?"

"Of course! And the rest of the week too, most likely. Froggy and Rufus should be by tomorrow, too." Rude stood, grinning. "See you later then." Axel watched him go thoughtfully, and sighed to himself.

A safari in an unknown world filled with demons… and half the expeditions didn't make it back. It would be dangerous, alright. Yet somehow, he was sure they would go.

Maybe it was fate.

* * *

Riku leaned against a building, and spat, nailing a roach dead on. Pests were a major problem in the Twisted World. With all the travel between different worlds, it was probably inevitable that every rat, bug and fungus known to man would show up eventually. If there was one profession that was never lacking for work, it was the exterminators.

She, on the other hand, was just getting by. Being a bouncer at a local titty bar was getting seriously wearing. Especially when the customers figured out she was a girl. Riku was sick to death of being called a bull dike as she threw someone out. It made her want to kick some serious balls.

"I need a new job." She mumbled to herself, then sighed. Breaking into the mercenary trade without any references was turning out to be harder than she expected. Her keyblade should have been a plus, but half the people she spoke to didn't even seem to know what a keyblade was. But at least her job as a bouncer was paying the bills, and hopefully she'd find something better soon.

"You are dead!" There was a scream nearby. Everyone on the road ignored it, and Riku was tempted to ignore it too… but then she heard a familiar voice begging and pleading.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorrysorrysorry! Please don't hurt me Axel please!" It was Sora. Riku still hesitated until she heard another scream. Then she swore and called in her keyblade. It undoubtedly wasn't HER Sora, but she still had to do something.

When she reached the alley, she immediately spotted the problem… a man with red, spiky hair had Sora pinned against the wall and was shaking him violently as the brunette cried pathetically. Little sparks were dancing in his hair. But he hadn't actually harmed Sora yet, and Riku licked her lips before sneaking up behind him. Sora spotted her and his eyes widened… just as she slammed him over the head with the flat side of the Way to Dawn. The redhead went down like a sack of grain, and Sora screamed again.

"Axel!" He was kneeling beside the red haired man, and Riku blinked. "What did you do that for?!?" He yelled at her, and she rocked back on her heels for a moment. Had she misread this completely? Had this been some bizarre lovers spat?

"He was hurting you." Riku pointed out reasonably. Sora winced, looking down.

"I deserved it… hey, are you Riku? You look a little different." Sora stared at her for a moment, and suddenly blinked. "Hey, you're a girl!" Riku tensed, giving him a dirty look.

"Thank you for pointing that out. I wouldn't have noticed." Sora winced, realizing he'd offended her, and hastily tried to explain.

"I'm sorry! But I met another Riku in another world and he was a boy so it was a surprise." Riku frowned, but relaxed a little. That was a better reason for mistaking her for a boy than most. "I think Axel's okay…" Sora looked at his friend with a woebegone expression, and Riku kneeled down to check. He was breathing easily and she thought he looked fine, although he was probably going to have quite a knot on his head.

"He's fine. Now why do you deserve to be treated like that?" She asked, and Sora flushed, looking away.

"I… I did something terrible." Sora whispered the next part, and Riku had to lean close to hear, her silvery hair brushing his face. "They were out of lube so I gave them… I thought it was lube. But it was… glue." Riku blinked, as her mind tried to rearrange that sentence a few ways. No matter how she worked at it, it wouldn't come out right.

"Glue. As lube." She tried to imagine what would happen, and failed utterly. "…Was it painful?" Sora nodded, tears filling his eyes.

"Roxas is in the infirmary and I'm so sorry!" He started to cry, and Riku hesitated before she pulled him into a hug, gently patting his back.

"I'm sure he'll forgive you once he's feeling better." Actually, she wasn't sure of that at all. What had happened? She didn't want to know and her imagination just wasn't up to the task. "Here, I'll help you carry your friend here home. You said his name was Axel?" Sora nodded, and Riku sighed. "I knew an Axel, but he died."

"That's terrible. Axel's a really great guy and he loves Roxas so much…" Between the two of them, they managed to carry the lanky redhead back to a black stone building. As soon as they stepped inside, the girl manning the front desk went into hysterical giggles.

"H-h-hi Sora! Oh, Roxas wants to see you. Something about shoving something up your ass." She managed to say brightly as Roxas spikes drooped to the point that his hair was nearly flat. "I see you've managed to take out Axel, good job!" Then she dissolved into giggles again. Riku hesitated, then shrugged. It hurt a bit, but… this Sora wasn't her Sora. So…

"Why don't we make ourselves scarce for a while?" She suggested to Sora, then spoke to the girl. "Can you get him to the infirmary?" If Roxas was there at this moment, that probably wasn't where Sora wanted to be. She nodded with a grin. "Thanks. C'mon… lets go get some Sea Salt ice cream." Sora brightened at that.

"Thanks Riku!" He grabbed her arm, and Riku smiled through the pain in her heart. He was so cute… the way Sora had been, before they had needed to save the world. She could feel him catching her heart all over again, and wanted to cry. But she was helpless to resist… Sora had always been her sunshine, and despite the pain, she had missed him so.

It would all end the same way. There was no real hope. But for now, at least, Riku could have a friend.

"Hey Riku… you have a keyblade, right?" Sora asked as they ate the Sea Salt ice cream out of waffle bowls. Riku nodded. She hadn't had the blade out long in the alleyway, so maybe Sora had missed it. "Where'd you get it?" Riku tilted her head… she had a feeling the question had more behind it than idle curiosity. But she shrugged.

"Well, the first blade I had was the Soul Eater. It's a long story, but I can tell you if you have time." Of course, right now Sora had nothing but time. It was going to take a while for his friends to calm down. He beamed at her.

"Sure!" Riku sighed and related the story of Kingdom Hearts. It took a while, and she edited some of it… she hated to look like a complete bitch, although she had been part of the time. But mostly, she stuck to the truth and by the end of it Sora was gaping at her. But he seemed… happy? "Wow, you must be really good with your keyblade then, right?"

"You might say so. Why?" Riku tilted her head to one side, sure now that he was asking for a reason. Sora beamed again.

"We've got a friend who's putting together a safari! We've decided to go, so we're going to be leaving next week. But maybe you could come too if you want? It's going to be super dangerous but it's a lot of money." Riku blinked. A safari? That sounded… interesting actually. She'd always loved seeing new places.

"How much money are we talking about?" Sora told her, and Riku whistled. "I'm in, if he wants me. How do I get in touch with this guy?"

"Just come to the World's End Tavern tonight." Sora assured her. "We'll all be there. Err… we might all be there." He amended. Axel and Roxas might not be up for it and if they were… Sora might be there. He might not be able to walk if Roxas caught him. "Just ask for Rude and Rufus… oh no!" Riku looked up, and saw a redhead and a blond had entered the store. Sora whimpered and Riku smoothly ducked under the table as they spotted him.

"Sora! Come here and take your punishment like a man." Axel said firmly, and Sora made a break for the door, just managing to get past Roxas. They immediately went after him, and Riku stayed put, shaking her head.

She'd do a lot of things for Sora, but not defend him from the two guys he'd accidentally given a tube of glue to. There were limits to friendship and even unrequited love. He deserved a spanking.

* * *

Riku stepped into the smoky tavern and coughed. She'd been in places like this before, of course… but not since she had been part of the darkness with DiZ. She glanced around, and quickly picked out Axel and Roxas. That red hair was as good as a stop sign. But Sora wasn't with them, and she sighed as she headed over.

"Hey there. I'm Riku." She offered, deciding not to mention that she was the one who had beaned Axel earlier. He hadn't really caught a glimpse of her so he probably didn't know. "I was with Sora earlier and he mentioned a safari I might be interested in?" Axel and Roxas exchanged a glance, and Axel shrugged.

"Why not? The more the merrier. You have a keyblade?" Riku nodded and called it up. Axel blinked, then eyed it, interested. "Nice. Have a seat." Riku vanished the keyblade and pulled up a chair.

"Where's Sora?" Although she had a very good idea. Axel confirmed it with an evil grin.

"The infirmary. He'll be fine by tomorrow." Riku decided not to ask. Whatever his punishment had been, she was sure it had been appropriate. "We're going to be heading out at the end of the week, did Sora mention that?"

"Yeah, he did." Riku looked at the sad, lonely bottle of wine on the table. It was almost empty. "Let me go get us something. Do you like Winkles Old and Very Peculiar?" That was a beer that Riku had gotten quite fond of. She wasn't sure what was in it and had decided not to ask. Axel shrugged and Roxas looked interested.

"I'll drink anything if it's free. Thanks." Axel replied, and Riku smiled, going to the bar. Soon she came back with three mugs. Roxas tried his and choked.

"Ewww?!? This is chunky!" Riku shrugged and took a deep drink, pausing to chew a few times.

"That's the part I like. Kind of salty. Like bar snacks and drink in one." Axel looked intrigued and gave his a try.

"Not bad. But what goes into it?" He asked, and Riku shrugged.

"That's the kind of question I try not to ask." She turned and frowned as a passing undine threatened to collapse on her. The water elemental managed to hold itself together long enough to make it out the door, and she wondered what it had gotten drunk on. The World's End Tavern had something for everyone. "So can you give me a rundown on this safari thing? I didn't get much of a chance to ask Sora questions." Axel and Roxas both filled her in, and Riku listened carefully, intrigued. This Dark Land sounded fascinating. It also sounded deadly, but it wasn't like she had a whole lot to live for. "Sounds good. D'you think the Doctor will want me?" That was the other question.

"If we put in a good word for you, he'll take you." Roxas said confidently. "And if Sora likes you that's good enough for us." Sora tended to be a pretty good judge of character, even if he was a complete idiot sometimes. Riku smiled faintly.

"Then I'm down." It might kill her, but that would be the breaks. And if she came back alive, it would be a good start to building a career as mercenary.

For now, that was all she wanted.


	11. Character Sheet

Author's Note: Someone mentioned that there are quite a few characters floating around… so I thought I would create a character page for everyone's enjoyment! ^_^ Just skip this chapter if you don't feel you need it, mwahaha

_**Cannon Characters**_

Sora – Our little ray of sunshine! This is the Sora from Kingdom Hearts. Is he gay with Riku? I haven't decided yet. ^_^ His most notable achievement is catching a fish THIS BIG! (really!)

Riku – Our little ray of… um… something! This is the Riku from Kingdom Hearts. Is he gay with Sora? I'm sure he wants to be… ahah. His most notable achievement is using the Way to Dawn to cut melons. Hey, he didn't have a knife…

_**World 1833 Characters**_

Roxas – Completely unrelated to Sora, Roxas is your typical rich high school student… or rather, he was! Until his father decided he needed a bodyguard/courtesan and the rest is history. He's pretty sweet but can also be quite a tough little guy. Only Axel gets to ruffle his hair. Most notable achievement so far is eating an entire tub of Sea Salt ice cream in one go… and not getting sick.

Sora – Completely unrelated to Roxas, but very good friends, Sora is another ray of sunshine! Far less experienced than the KH version, he's also a bit gooier. His hair serves as a mood ring! Everyone wants to protect him, and he tends to arouse the 'awwww' response in people. His most notable achievement so far is receiving the most free drinks of anyone at the World's End Tavern.

Vexen – Roxas dad, he was a cold, rather distant man who nonetheless tried his best to raise his boys right. He probably screwed them up a bit, but what parent doesn't? He loved Saix but never told him… but then, Saix knew. Deceased.

Saix – Vexen's bodyguard, he was very professional but a warm, friendly person. He was friends with Vexen but nothing more… Vexen's personality just wasn't what he wanted in a lover. Lover to Xemnas. Deceased.

Xemnas – Sora's uncle and massive crime lord, Xemnas is also a ruthless bastard. He is also very dangerous, capable of acting audaciously and decisively when the situation calls for it… as Vexen discovered. He did love Saix, in his own way, but love is no protection. Currently alive, well and likely to stay that way. Unfortunately.

Mrs. Mae-Lin – One of the best English teachers… ever. She's a very good person who believes in human rights and is willing to do something about it. Alas, any plans for good deeds in the Twisted World are currently stymied by lack of a portal.

_**Twisted World Characters**_

Note: None of these characters were actually born in the Twisted World, but it's the closest thing they have to a home. So yeah.

Axel – Our wonderful pyro! Axel is the man we know and love. He's also intelligent to the point of brilliance and a master of all things linguistic. But don't ask him about math. Even after looking at Roxas' primers, math is his bane. Deeply in love with Roxas. Most notable achievement to date is not setting Sora on fire after the glue incident.

Mongo – Affectionately known as the old monster, Mongo comes from a very strange world on the far end of creation. As such, he's completely immortal and almost unkillable. As penance for an unspeakable sin, he and Kilsera are serving as the angels of second chances… and making quite a lot of money in the process. Hey, good deeds don't have to be free!

Kilsera – Mongo's mate. She could have abandoned him when he needed to begin his penance, but she loves him dearly and she stayed. She's a master of sorcery and oracles, using both to help Mongo on his mission. He doesn't know what he'd do without her.

Ya Tashra – Ye sorcerer supreme! Ya Tashra is the creator of the Twisted World. What does he look like? No one knows. Is he even actually a he? No one knows. Is he a god? A mortal? No one knows! All they do know is that from the shipments to his tower on the top layer, he liked alcohol just fine. His most notable achievement thus far is being the creator of more research papers than the entire faculty of Harvard.

Doctor Rufus Shinra – Scion of the obscenely wealthy Shinra family in his home dimension, Rufus rarely comes home, too busy scouting out the multiverse for both science and profit. He comes from a world where Edwardian fashion is in and speaks with an English accent. Loves danger, sex and alcohol as well as science. It's all about the science! Think Indiana Jones without the whip. And with a lot more jars. His most notable achievement thus far is managing to take out a werewolf with nothing but a flower pot and a silver fork. True story!

Rude, also known as Reno – Rufus bodyguard and general helper. Rude is deeply in love with the good doctor but it would take a team of wild elephants to make him admit it. Rude is actually the same person as Reno on his shadow world, which is why the appearance is a little confusing. He loves danger and loves to fight, and traveling with Rufus means his cravings rarely go unsatisfied for long. His most notable achievement so far is managing to set off the alarms in a sunken temple so he and Rufus were both pursued out by a raging earth elemental and then the temple… hey, I didn't say it was a GOOD achievement now did I?

Froggy – An interesting character, Froggy is helpful, funny and likely to stab you if you make fun of her name. She got her name because of her history… at one point she was a beautiful princess. She spurned the attentions of a powerful wizard because he was fat, balding and twice her age. In a fit of pique, the wizard turned her into a frog and decreed that she would turn back into a maiden when she was given a kiss of true love. Unfortunately, he didn't consider that frogs do not naturally have long life spans. Froggy was about to become a snake's meal when fate in the form of Mongo and Kilsera intervened. Kilsera broke the spell on her in return for her freedom. Froggy has a bit of an attitude, but makes a very good friend. Still hates snakes.

Female Riku – For lack of a better place to put her, she's going here. Completely identical to cannon Riku, which is the source of much of her grief as people keep thinking she's a boy. Desperately in love with Sora, who does not return her feelings. Currently developing feelings for the gooier Sora… how will that turn out? Who knows. Most notable achievement so far is managing to make her dad's VCR explode.

_**Dark Land Characters**_

Axel – Supreme cheese of the Dark Land, he is the High Lord and master of all he surveys. He's also Bon-Bon's favorite demon and she likes to ruffle his hair. He sometimes goes by the name of Lea, since he was reunited with his Nobody to make a whole person. If you want to know more about him, read the Dark Land! *shameless plug* He won't be appearing much if at all in this fic.

Marty – Related to Marluxia somehow, but since he knows Marluxia by a different name who knows how? A demon of the hourglass with a great love of plants, he was voluntold to help the good doctor with his work. Axel's exact words were "Bring him back in one piece or don't come back." Marty was not on his good side at the time. But if Marty can pull this one off, he'll be back in favor so watch out! Ambitious demon on the way! Most notable achievement thus far is managing to piss off Axel quite thoroughly without actually dying.

That's all for now. ^_^ I may have missed someone but nothing's perfect. Enjoy!


	12. Yen Sid

"So this is the Twisted World." Riku looked around curiously. "…Interesting." He rubbed his eyes… the ceiling overhead was a bit disconcerting. So was the red lighting. It wasn't hard to see at all, but it gave the colors a strange tint.

"Wow!" Sora gaped, and Riku smiled at his reaction.

They had decided they needed to check out the mayor's tourism initiative more thoroughly. Really, who knew what might pop through that portal? They'd had to sneak into the mayor's house, though… he wasn't making the portal generally available to the public at all. Understandably, maybe… the visitors seemed mild mannered, but the Twisted World was probably a touch dangerous. But Sora and Riku could handle themselves. It was mostly looking extremely peculiar, though. At a loss for what to do, Sora and Riku wandered aimlessly, taking in the sights.

If they had been just five minutes earlier or five minutes later, they would have missed spotting the wizard standing on a street corner, frowning severely at something in his hand. And the rest of this story would not have happened. But they saw him, and so it did.

"Yen Sid!" Sora called happily and the wizard looked up with a blink as the brunette trotted over. "You knew about this place? You never told us!" The master wizard looked up from his work with a blink, then smiled.

"Ah, Sora. It's been some time." Whatever was in his hand vanished, and he smiled at them benevolently. "How have you been?" His voice had a kindly tone, and Sora grinned.

"Great! We just found out about this place. The mayor got a portal opened to the Destiny Islands to get tourists, can you believe it?" Yen Sid listened patiently, and sometimes gently prodded Sora with questions. It didn't take much to get the entire story out of the brunette… and more. But Sora and Riku were both oblivious.

"Well, Sora. I'm here for a purpose, actually, and I think perhaps you could help." Sora looked at Yen Sid trustingly, and Riku tilted his head to one side. This sounded interesting. "I'm looking for a special book. It's extremely important that it be recovered before it can be misused. I believe it has been hidden inside a person, a boy named Axel. Have you met him?"

"Actually, we have." Riku said slowly, but remembered what the other Sora had said about dop alts. "If it's the same one." Yen Sid looked pleased.

"It probably is. He would have been living here many years. Yes… unfortunately, I believe he's gone through a portal I cannot touch. It leads to a place called the Dark Land. The energies there prevent me from going through, but this boy will be in terrible danger until the book is removed from him. I was hoping you could retrieve it for me?" Sora didn't hesitate a moment. He was actually feeling a little bored, with no quests… he quickly nodded. But Riku frowned.

"This won't kill him, will it?" That would not be good. But Yen Sid shook his head.

"Oh no. Removing the book definitely won't kill him." That satisfied Riku, who nodded.

"We'll get him for you." He trusted Yen Sid as much as Sora. If he said that this boy was in danger as long as he held this book, then Riku believed it.

"Excellent. Although, I should warn you, he probably won't come voluntarily. Use this when you reach him." Yen Sid gave Sora a red gem. "It will teleport you directly to my tower, and I can do the rest."

"We're on it!" Sora promised happily, and both he and Riku walked off to find the portal to the Dark Land. Yen Sid watched them go, and smiled. It wasn't a nice smile.

But they didn't look back and didn't see.

* * *

"The Dark Land!" Rufus gestured widely with his hat, and Axel looked around, interested.

Despite the name, the Dark Land was bright and sunny. It was also hot… very hot. He'd been ready for that and he was wearing light fabrics under his leather armor, but still. Roxas winced and tried to adjust his straps. He and Sora had both been given armor as a parting gift from Mongo and Kilsera. The city they were standing in was vast… a huge, sprawling capital made out of stone and mud brick. Most of the buildings were covered in vines that were threatening to gradually tear them apart. Blooms and fruit trees were everywhere, even in the city, and as he watched a demon idly picked a fruit and ate it, spitting out seeds. In many ways, the Dark Land was a land of plenty. But it was also dangerous, and they kept a tight watch as they made their way out of the portal room. But a demon was waiting for them and greeted them warmly.

"Hello! I'm Marty." The man shook back soft, silky pink hair and smiled at them. The only indication of his demon status was tiny stub horns on his forehead. Bizarrely, he also had a tilted halo of light over his head. "I'm a member of the Hourglass, and I'll be your guide in our fair land." He smiled impishly, and Axel couldn't help but like him. He seemed like a sunny, charming sort of person. He was wearing a sleeveless, light green shirt and matching shorts that displayed some very nice legs. "I'm told you're organizing a safari into the deep South?"

"Absolutely! Pleased to meet you." Rufus beamed and tipped his hat at Marty, who beamed right back. It was a little disconcerting. Even more disconcerting, in Axel's opinion, was that Rufus was still wearing his waistcoat and didn't seem to notice the heat at all. "My word, what a fascinating place!" Marty seemed a bit taken aback at that, but shrugged and smiled.

"I'm glad you like it. Let me show you to the inn I have reserved for you, so you can put your things away." They did have a fair amount of gear, and Rufus nodded cheerfully. "I already have a bunch of Rage's and Blade's lined up to accompany us. I hope you don't mind?"

"Not at all! But why are you helping us, if you don't mind me asking?" Rufus couldn't help but be a little suspicious of this level of cooperation. Marty smiled as he led them through the teeming streets. Axel summoned in a chakram as someone tried to steal Roxas' wallet, and suddenly demons were scrambling away. "Ah… heh. The High Lord uses those weapons too." That was giving Axel quite a reputation by proxy.

"Quite. And that's why I'm helping you." That didn't make a lot of sense, but Marty quickly amplified. "The High Lord is a bit, ahem, upset with me at the moment. Really, it wasn't my fault but… well. Things got a touch out of hand. The rose bush that nearly ate Chem… well. Um. Anyway, I've been instructed to help you to the utmost of my abilities. Erm. Actually, I've been told that if you don't come back alive I shouldn't come back either." Marty grinned and shrugged. "Nothing like a good bit of motivation! I'll do my best for you, Doctor." Rufus laughed and nodded, accepting the explanation. He'd only spoken to the High Lord for a bit, but this sounded entirely typical of him. "So you'll have to stay in the town until you adapt to the heat, but that should be fine. Give us plenty of time to prepare the expedition. Just be careful, this place is full of savage beasts! And some animals too." Riku couldn't help but snicker at that, and Sora grinned at her before they both went back to watching the crowds.

The demons around them were quite interesting. They mostly looked like normal people… but often with the addition of wings, fangs, tails and other appendages. Almost every imaginable race, from elves to humans to faeries, was present. Roxas even spotted someone he thought might be the same race as Mongo and Kilsera, but couldn't be sure. The city was full of activity, with demons gliding overhead and going about their business. It reminded Axel more than a bit of the Twisted World.

The inn Marty brought them to was a great building of dark grey stone. It looked sturdy and comfortable, if not luxurious. The rooms they were shown to were the same… nice, clean and free of vermin but nothing too special. Which was just fine, really.

"Hey, Roxas? Want to go exploring a bit?" Axel was really curious about this place. And he didn't think anyone was going to dare try to attack him… the demons seemed to be erring on the side of caution and kept treating him like the High Lord. It was a bit odd. Roxas shrugged with a smile.

"Sure! I wonder if they would have Sea Salt ice cream?" He was feeling the need for some. Axel shook his head with a grin.

"I doubt it, with this heat. But you never know." They casually walked through the city, pausing to go into a few shops. "I can see why Rufus is interested in this place." Axel gently touched a weapon, and pulled back his hand with a hiss, his finger sporting a light cut. The weapon appeared to be a sword made of bone, but had a wicked knife edge and the store keeper claimed it was harder than steel. Axel didn't really doubt it.

"Yeah, there's a lot of neat stuff here." Roxas looked curiously at a plant in a jar. It hissed maliciously at him, and he took a step back. "A bit too neat. Definitely Rufus' style though." Man eating plants and creatures with bones that could be made into weapons would be just his thing.

Elsewhere, Sora was trying to find Roxas and Axel and not having much luck.

"Where could they have gone… ack!" Sora came to a stop, blinking, as several demons fanned out in front of him. He was in an alleyway… taking a quick glance over his shoulder, he saw two demons there as well. "Uh oh." Sora called in his keyblade as one of the demons sneered at him.

"Your money or your life, brat."

"I don't have any money." That was nothing but the truth. He'd left it at the inn, since Axel and Roxas would have plenty. The demon shrugged.

"Guess it'll have to be your life, then. You'll look good at a boy brothel." Sora's mouth dropped open at that suggestion, and he growled and launched his own attack. Mongo had said that sometimes the best defense was a good offense.

So it proved, and if the odds had been even close to even he would probably have won. But there were too many, and at least two of the demons were fast and strong. Sora parried an attack frantically and dodged, but he wasn't going to-

"HEY!" A familiar voice snapped and a demon screamed. Riku waded into the fray, the Way to Dawn flashing out with deadly intent. Between the two of them, they quickly turned the tables on the demons. Soon they were in running away, except for a few corpses left behind. "Sora, are you stupid? Marty said not to out by yourself! This isn't sa-mrph!" Sora had hugged her tightly and… was kissing her? Riku blushed, unable to stop the tight, painful feeling in her chest. Was he doing this just to shut her up? Or did he really…?

"Thank you so much Riku." Sora said as he pulled back, blushing. "You're the best friend ever." Riku blinked at him, and took a deep breath.

"Uh… yeah. Best friend." Riku swallowed. Her lips felt like they were burning. Did Sora have any idea what he'd done to her with that impulsive kiss? "C'mon, let's go back to the inn. Roxas and Axel will be coming back there anyway."

"Okay!" Sora gripped her hand and Riku smiled weakly as she took the lead, taking him back to the inn. Why did Sora have to be such an adorable, impulsive kid again? It just wasn't fair. But then, life wasn't fair…

* * *

"We just have to grab him and use the gem." Sora said happily. "We don't have to fight him at all." Riku nodded slowly. It was a good plan. They really didn't want to hurt Axel at all if they could help it.

The Dark Land was just as weird as the Twisted World. Fortunately, it hadn't been hard to figure out where Axel was staying. The demons remembered the strangers and were more than willing to talk about it for a bit of munny.

"There he is!" Sora hunkered down, and Riku couldn't help but grin. He reminded him of a little kitten getting ready to pounce. And as soon as Axel got close… they did. Riku grabbed his one arm and Sora the other, startling Roxas and Axel.

"Guys, what are you doing?" Axel said, puzzled. What trick were Sora and Riku pulling?

"Sorry, just have to borrow you for a bit!" Sora said with a grin and Axel frowned… and the gem glowed. And then they were gone. Roxas went white at the sudden disappearance.

"Axel? Axel?!?" He turned around, trying to find any hint of what had just happened. "…Froggy!" Roxas ran back to the inn, desperate to find some help.

But he had a feeling it was already too late.

* * *

"Okay, what in hell was that? This is not funny you two." Axel jerked away from the two keyblade wielders and turned to frown at them. Sora just grinned at him, but Riku looked around with a frown. Something… wasn't quite right.

Mostly it was the room they were in. It was black stone, and the floor was set with golden runes. There was a large chair in the centre… almost a throne. It didn't really seem like the kind of room he'd pictured Yen Sid in.

"Sorry! But Yen Sid wants to talk to you, he says you have a really important book inside you and he can remove it, no problem. He says you'll be in danger until it's done." Sora said happily, and Axel paused. Riku glanced over and saw a strange expression pass over the redhead's face.

Fear?

"A book." Axel said slowly. "A book? Or more of a… cube…" Axel paled and suddenly stepped close to Sora, who stepped back with a blink. "Where did you meet Yen Sid? Your world… or the Twisted World?"

"The Twisted World. Why?" Sora didn't see why that was important… but Axel whirled around, frantically looking for an exit.

"You're fucking retarded, both of you! Don't you under-argh!" Golden ribbons slid out of the runes on the floor and tangled all three of them. Axel tried to fight with his fires, but they seemed impervious and tightened around his limbs, holding him still. The same ribbons yanked Riku's and Sora's arms behind them, covering their hands to prevent them from summoning the keyblades. It happened so quickly they didn't have a chance to react.

"Yes, indeed." Yen Sid's old, kindly voice came, and he suddenly appeared in the centre of the room. He smiled at them, and it was the smile they knew… but… Riku stared. Something about this was not right. Was it his imagination, or was there an undercurrent of cruel amusement in the wizard's voice. "I must confess… I have tricked you both. Although you did walk right into it with your arms open. Quite the credulous fools, the two of you." Sora gaped, but Riku suddenly understood.

"You're not Yen Sid. Or rather, not OUR Yen Sid." Riku said, more angry at himself than the wizard. Why hadn't he seen it? Yen Sid nodded with a smile.

"Precisely. Consider this a lesson on shadow worlds… what is evil in one world can be good in another. And what is good…" He lifted a hand, and a bright purple light began building. "…can be very evil in another." Sora looked utterly horrified, struggling against his bonds.

"You burned the books." Axel said, his voice strangled as the light continued to build. "It was you, wasn't it? All for that cube mama put in my hand! What is it? What do you want with it?" If he was going to die, he wanted to know why. Yen Sid paused, then shrugged.

"It will do no harm to tell you, and it's always nice to have an audience… the book you hold is actually a cube puzzle. It is a tool of creation, lost by the Creator of Worlds long, long ago. It holds within it the words of creation. With it… anything is possible. You've used it a few times, accidentally, and I've been trying to track you all these years. Now, brace yourself… this will hurt." The light hit Axel in the chest and he screamed.

Hurt was a vast understatement of what he was feeling. It felt like acid, like molten rock, like vinegar on an open wound. It felt like his skin and flesh were being flayed from his bones, and he was unaware of his screaming as something so important, so vital, so utterly necessary was pulled away from him. He was briefly aware of an inconsolable loss… and the awareness went away.

Sora and Riku both flinched at the horrible screams… then stared as a tiny cube was pulled out of Axel. It was made of gold and seemed to be moving… the sides were endlessly flicking, rolling around each other and making new patterns. And they could feel the power of it… an immense, unbelievable power. Yen Sid's hand closed over the cube but it did not vanish. It just sat in his hand, quietly flicking, and he tilted his head for a moment before nodding.

"I have no more business with the three of you." He said to them, and flicked his staff, sending them all back to the Dark Land.

He had what he needed. What became of Sora and Riku, or Axel… he couldn't care less.


	13. Destroy the Eternal

"Axel, say something to me. Please say something." But no matter what Roxas did, Axel stayed stubbornly unconscious.

Axel, Sora and Riku had reappeared in precisely the same spot they had left… and had immediately been grabbed by a very irate group. Marty had provided them with special cuffs that prevented the two keyblade wielders from summoning their weapons. Shocked and horrified by what they had done, Sora and Riku had hardly put up a fight. The entire group had been brought to the Keep as they tried to figure out what to do.

Axel had been out cold for most of the day and it was starting to really worry everyone. He looked completely fine, his breathing was even and stable… but he just wouldn't wake up. Nothing they could do would wake him. The sirens and Hourglass demons had already tried.

"Roxas, honey. We've got someone here to see him." Froggy said gently. Roxas looked up blearily as a witch walked briskly in. She was wearing very familiar robes, and he blinked. It was the female wizard… Ya Tashra's apprentice. Tilting his head to one side, Roxas examined her more closely. She looked perhaps fifteen years old and very oriental. Her straight black hair had been cut in a razor sharp line at her jaw, and her eyes were almost black. Her wizard robes were light purple and embroidered with delicate gold flowers and her staff was very plain, except for a few carvings on the tip. She didn't look very powerful… but she would be channeling the power of her master, if Ya Tashra had decided to help.

"Ya Tashra is going to help us?" Roxas said, his hopes rising. The wizard who had created the Twisted World could do anything. Quite possibly literally… everyone was divided on what exactly Ya Tashra was. Some even said he was a god. The girl nodded.

"Doctor Rufus and Rude came to the tower and explained the situation. A tool of creation is a very bad thing to have wandering into evil hands." She gently rested a hand on Axel's chest, staring at him for a moment and frowning slightly. "This is… unprecedented." Roxas blinked, wondering what that meant. The wizard looked up at Froggy. "Could you fetch the other Sora and Riku, please? They should understand the consequences of their actions." Froggy blinked but nodded and ducked out to go find them. "I will awaken him now." She hesitated a brief moment, then shook her head before she waved her staff.

White sparks seemed to play over the staff, and slid down onto Axel. He stirred with a groan, green eyes slowly opening… and Roxas hugged him tightly. Axel didn't make a sound, and Roxas looked up as he felt a hand touch his shoulder.

"Axel?" Roxas felt a sudden chill as he looked into Axel's eyes. They were… so cold. So empty. The beautiful green eyes that had been full of life and love were as chill as the deepest winter. Axel tilted his head slightly to one side… then suddenly hissed as the wizard touched his cheek, a spark jumping from her finger onto his skin.

"Remember, Axel. You may not be able to feel… but you can suffer." She said, her voice as cold and remote as Axel's eyes. He looked up at her as Roxas stared, wide eyed, and he couldn't understand what passed between them.

"I understand." Axel said, his voice just as remote, and Roxas pulled away, swallowing hard.

"A-Axel, what's… what's wrong…" Something was very, very badly wrong. Axel just didn't talk like this, he didn't act like this. It was like a stranger had taken his place. Axel looked at him, and Roxas saw a flicker of emotion in his eyes.

Pity?

"Got them." Froggy said from the door, and pushed Sora and Riku in. Sora was looking depressed but brightened a little when he saw Axel awake. Riku looked at the wizard, uncertain, as she gave them both a hard look.

"You have both helped do a terrible thing. I will hold you responsible to help correct it." She said harshly to them both, and Sora opened his mouth to speak, but shut it as she pointed at him. "Explain for Roxas. What is a Nobody?" Sora blinked.

"It's someone who's lost his heart. It's the body and soul that's left over." He said uncertainly and Riku's gaze darted to Axel. But the wizard wasn't finished.

"And what is a Heartless?" That confused them both, but Sora answered anyway.

"A heart that has surrendered to the darkness… why are you asking this?" He couldn't understand what she was driving at. The wizard took a deep breath, and sighed.

"Graphical demonstrations are best. Roxas, this is what a normal heart and soul look like if you have the vision to see such things." She used Riku as her test subject, and Sora and Roxas both stared as a mist of white and black swirled around him in a complex aura. "This is what Axel has been left with." She pointed at Axel, who watched, emotionless, as the same swirling appeared around him.

Except it didn't. There were a few traces of white, a few splashes of black… but mostly a horrible yellow color mixed with grey. It swirled with the idiot power of a gas giant, and there was no sense or reason to it. The pattern around Riku spoke of his emotions and his memories, a great complexity… but there was nothing of that in what surrounded Axel. It was chaos. Roxas stared, horrified, as Sora swallowed and Riku looked down.

"The cube that removed from him was indeed a tool of creation. It was the book of names… the Creator made it to help her assign names, to help define the properties of all things. Those names gradually change with time, and the cube has always kept itself up to date." The wizard paused, then shrugged slightly. "This only matters at the moment because it was not meant to fuse with a person. How Axel's mother managed that, I do not know… but in doing so, everything he was became written in the cube. His heart and soul were linked with it on a most fundamental level… you could say that the book read him, rather than the other way around."

"What does that mean for Axel?" Roxas whispered, gazing into those cold green eyes.

"It means that he has lost almost all of both his heart and soul." She said gently, and Roxas looked up, tears building in his eyes. "I am sorry, but he is very dangerous in this condition. He is like a Nobody in that he cannot feel… but he is like a Heartless in that he cannot muster the logic to plan. The only things he will respond to now are threats, because what is left of him can feel pain. If we released him in this state, he would be a wandering menace. It would be best if I put him back to sleep." Suiting words to deeds, she gestured and Axel's eyes closed again as he slumped against Roxas. Roxas gently eased him down onto the bed, and the tears started to fall.

"This is all your fault!" He suddenly shouted at Sora and Riku. "Why did you… why…" Roxas drew a deep, shuddering breath and pressed his face against Axel's shoulder. "Axel."

"I'm sorry," Sora whispered. He'd thought he'd felt bad before… but now he felt like he'd killed a kitten. "I'm so sorry… we're both sorry…" Riku just kept his gaze fixed on the floor. What could he say? They'd screwed up so badly it wasn't even funny. The wizard cleared her throat.

"You will help us assault Yen Sid's tower. In his arrogance, he thinks the book can protect him… but he has made an error." They all looked at her, and she smiled. It wasn't a pleasant smile. "Axel's heart and soul will resist him from within the pages of the book. Given enough time, Yen Sid will overcome that, but for now the cube will only answer to him grudgingly. We have an opportunity and we must seize it. As Ya Tashra's proxy, I will take control of the cube when we have it."

"What good will that do for Axel?" Roxas said bitterly, and she looked at him with a small smile.

"All the good in the world… for when I have it, I will place a power ward on it. And with that to contain the energy… you will take your keyblade and destroy it." Roxas blinked at her as Riku looked up sharply. Ya Tashra was willing to destroy a book… a tool so incredibly potent? "The Creator is dead and gone. The cube should not have outlasted her… it probably only did so because it was inside Axel. Destroying the cube will release his heart and soul. I will catch them and we can bring them back here, fusing them back to his body. He will be in sad shape for a while, but he will recover." Roxas stood up, grimly determined.

"Then lets go!" The wizard nodded, but held up a hand.

"All of us. Let us collect the others. Yen Sid will have many defences for us to overcome." Soon, everyone was together… Froggy, Rufus, Rude, Sora and the second Riku. Riku started as he saw an identical version of himself. But there was something… he stared at his dop alt, puzzled, for a long moment and was surprised again by the hostile look he received.

"What's wrong, Riku?" Sora said to the female Riku, a bit worried. She looked upset. She glanced down at him, silent for a moment.

"He's a boy, isn't he." Sora blinked, looking at the first Riku and nodding. "It's so fucking unfair!" Sora frowned, not understanding, and she gestured to herself angrily. "Look at me. We're exactly the same. I'm so goddamn butch…" Sora's mouth dropped open, and he grabbed her shirt.

"You are not! You're beautiful." He said angrily and pulled her down into a kiss. Riku's breath caught in her throat, and she suddenly pushed him away.

"Please Sora. Don't do this to me. I can't go through this again, I just can't…" Riku sounded close to tears, and Sora blinked, confused. Has someone broken her heart? Had it been his dop alt?

"But I like you, Riku. I really like you." His feelings for her had been getting stronger all the time, since the first moment he met her. Riku stared at him, and he met her aquamarine eyes. "You're so strong and smart and… I like you a lot." He liked the feeling of being held in her strong arms, liked being around her. Riku hesitated, then sniffed.

"Would you date me?" She said softly and Sora grinned.

"Sure!" He'd been struggling trying to figure out how to ask her out, in fact. To something more intimate than ice cream, anyway. Riku smiled, and it was like the sun coming out.

"He would never do that… never…" She murmured, and hugged Sora tightly. "Thank you." Even if it didn't work out, they would have a chance. Not like last time. "Sora, I- YEOW!" Riku jumped forward, almost knocking Sora over as someone pinched her on the bottom. Whirling around, she saw a grinning Froggy behind her.

"Hate to break it to you, love, but everyone is waiting for you to finish this touching little moment." Riku looked around, belatedly realizing that everyone was indeed watching them… and that her double and Sora's were looking a little shell shocked by the whole thing. "Got it together? Good, it's time to go!" Froggy waved at the wizard, who nodded and brought them all the base of Yen Sid's tower in a flash of golden light.

Making their way through the tower wasn't easy. The wizard hadn't been kidding about the defenses… but she augmented their weapons with a touch of Ya Tashra's power. They sliced through illusions and monsters, although not without damage. Soon Rude had a bleeding cut across his shoulder, and Rufus had lost his hat to a flying beast. Froggy picked up a few burns, and Sora cried out in pain as he was slammed to the floor by a beast… which Riku promptly decapitated, the blood spraying across them both. Gradually, they made it to the top of the tower… then the wizard called.

"All of you stay out here but Roxas and the Sora and Riku who need to make amends!" That clarified who she meant. "Keep the defenses off while we deal with this!" The rest of them arranged themselves defensively to meet what was coming up the stairs, and the other four went into the top of the tower.

The room was exactly how they had left it. Except that Yen Sid was sitting on his throne in the centre, gazing at the cube in his hand and completely ignoring their presence. It was a bit insulting, really, and Roxas bristled, stepping forward.

"Give us back Axel's heart and soul!" He shouted, and Yen Sid slowly looked up. Then he smiled, and it wasn't a nice smile at all.

"No." He stood, and laughed. "Did you really think you could challenge me in my own tower, keybladers, while I have the cube? I will destroy you all… as if you had never been." But the wizard stepped in front of them, her robes billowing in the air. "Step aside, apprentice. Your master should never have sent you." She tilted her head to one side.

What happened next occurred so fast that it was difficult to see. Pure gold light seemed to explode from the apprentice, taking the form of a bird of prey and rocketing towards Yen Sid in a flash of light. He was slammed off his feet and dragged across the floor until he hit the wall. His protections saved him from broken bones but not road rash, and there was blood on the floor as he pulled himself to his knees, staring at the apprentice in stunned shock.

"You… are not an apprentice…" He grated out as the wizard smiled.

"You're not the only one able to play pretend, Yen Sid." Her voice deepened and became masculine. As the keyblade wielders watched, wide eyed, the female form dropped away as if it had never been. Instead there was a dark skinned man, with light grey hair pulled into thousands of micro-braids. His eyes were golden, and Sora shivered faintly as he was reminded of Ansem. "And before you ask why I didn't just attack you directly… because you would have fled. And I couldn't have that." Yen Sid stood with a snarl, and words of golden power rippled from the cube… and were met with a wall of darkness that swallowed them into ebony.

The battle was fierce and as one sided as Yen Sid had anticipated… but not the way he had expected. Riku, Sora and Roxas attacked with their keyblades as Ya Tashra warded them and fought Yen Sid with pure magic and will. When it was done, there was nothing like of Yen Sid but his hat… which rolled away and vanished into the darkness. Ya Tashra went to the cube that was lying on the floor, and gently picked it up.

"No!" Roxas said involuntarily as the wizard studied it. Was Ya Tashra lying to them too? Was he going to keep the cube for himself? The wizard looked up with a sad smile, and Roxas was surprised to see grief in his eyes.

"So many lives lost for a worthless tool… this was never meant to be used by mortals. I could use it… but I do not need it." Ya Tashra gently set the cube on the ground and surrounded it with a field of force. "Destroy it Roxas. Destroy it with the Bonds of Love." Roxas blinked as Ya Tashra said the name of his keyblade… but it seemed right. Right that he would free Axel with the keyblade that symbolized his love for him.

A single blow shattered the golden cube, and it winkled out of existence as if it had never been. A breath of darkness and light shot up, but Ya Tashra captured it easily, imprisoning it in a globe. He smiled and offered the globe to Roxas, who took it tentatively.

"So are you guys done in there? Everything's dead out here." Came Froggy's voice from outside the door, and Ya Tashra laughed softly.

"Yes. You can all come in." He'd rather forgotten about the ones outside on the stairs. They all stepped inside, glancing around.

"I say! Look at those bookshelves. May I?" Ya Tashra quickly checked the books for any residue of traps, then nodded. Rufus quickly started scavenging, with Rude and Froggy's help. Roxas couldn't help but laugh.

"It never changes…" No matter what happened, Rufus would always be on the lookout for new knowledge. It was almost comforting. Ya Tashra shrugged with a smile.

"If you want, you can stay here and search the tower for anything valuable, and I can come pick you up later." He offered to Rufus, who nodded happily.

"Capital! Thank you so much, we quite appreciate it." Ya Tashra looked a little bemused, but waved a hand and brought them back to the Dark Land, minus Rufus, Rude and Froggy. Roxas immediately bolted away, running to Axel's bedside.

"Axel!" He happily pressed the globe to Axel's chest, and it vanished. Axel twitched, then opened his eyes with a groan. Roxas looked into his eyes anxiously, and was relieved to see the Axel he knew looking out at him… although he looked to be in serious pain.

"Ow… god… what happened to me… ow!" Roxas hugged him tightly, sniffing, and Axel smiled and hugged him back. "Careful, I feel half dead, you'll finish the job."

"Axel…" Roxas just closed his eyes and held his love.

All was right with the world.


	14. Just Another Day

Author's Note: This story is kind of winding down, so I'm introducing a side story unconnected to the main one. I'd like some input… should I move this second story to its own story or leave it as part of this one? It's built on what's already happened here so I'm a bit torn. Thanks!

"This really sucks." Riku grunted as she kept moving, mud pulling on her feet with every step. "And I mean that literally."

"Shut up!" Sora sounded harassed, and Riku almost felt bad as she glanced down at her shorter companion. A whole head shorter than her, he had it correspondingly worse in their current situation. Although he and the other short demons were being allowed to switch off riding the beasts of burden, which was something Riku didn't get to do. So her sympathy was limited. "We know it sucks already." Riku sighed and shut her mouth. He had a point.

They were walking through a swamp. A very deep swamp, with a nasty, muddy bottom. The boots they were wearing were in no way tall enough to protect them from the water, but at least the hard soles offered some protection. Riku wondered, in a morbid sort of way, how long it would take for their shoes to rot away entirely. A lot of the demons were already going barefoot. Being a full demon conferred immunity to such things as foot rot, and Riku and the others were already developing a similar immunity, thankfully.

"Hoy!" Axel called as a chakram flashed out, dispatching another death beast. That was what they had called the crocodile things that lived in this swamp, since they were certain death if you didn't look out for them. Long, low, scaly and viciously cunning, they were a constant threat to the safari. Fortunately, everyone was getting very good at spotting and taking them out. Even more fortunately, the hides were valuable and the flesh made a wonderful stew. Two demons were already reeling in the carcass.

"Blaugh!" Sora stepped into a sinkhole and momentarily went underwater, before Riku could grab him and pull him up. "Darkness!" Sora blinked, spitting out the filthy water and gasping. Riku winced in sympathy. The water came to her upper chest, so it was almost neck high on him. It didn't take much to put him under. "Riku, how much longer?"

"Three more months." This was going to be a long expedition, and they had brought all the pack animals and supplies needed for it. Sora looked up at her pitifully, his blue eyes wide and his hair slimed flat to his head.

"Please, kill me." Riku laughed and tried to fluff up his hair, then gave up. The algae wasn't coming out.

"Look on the bright side, Sora. If our guides are right we'll be out of this swamp in a week." That only made the brunette whimper. Riku had to admit, she didn't like that aspect of it either. Especially at night. They had to sleep in special harnesses that let them hang from the trees like a bunch of moths in cocoons. "Just a week and we'll have dry land."

"Dry land, come faster." Sora prayed fervently, and Riku didn't have the heart to mention that dry land would bring a whole host of other problems. The swamp had a plus side… nothing but the death beasts and fish lived in it, really. Well, except for leeches, but they used a repellent to avoid those. Dry land, now… they would start meeting the creatures whose bones could be made into weapons. And the plants that liked to eat people.

It would be interesting.

* * *

"Are you seriously going to do that?" Axel didn't know whether to be disgusted or in awe. Right now awe was winning out. Rude looked up from where he was rigging the ropes for the night, and grinned.

"You should try it with Roxas. The demons do it all the time." He was rigging together his harness and Froggy's, as well as Rufus's, for midair sex. Axel met Froggy's gaze, and she just shrugged, faintly embarrassed. It required a lot of effort to make it work, since the mosquito netting couldn't be disturbed… the mosquitoes here were HUGE… but Marty claimed it was worth the effort. He'd already slept with half the expedition and was currently trying to get into Riku's pants. Amazingly, the demon was so good natured and charming about it that he hadn't pissed off Riku or Sora yet, although her refusal had been firm.

"Yeah, but the demons are insane. I mean holy shit." Axel pointed out. "They LIKE this trip." Almost all the demons were enjoying this trip just as much as Doctor Shinra. Even the ones who had unofficially been designated as bait. That was just disturbing. Almost as disturbing as the fact that they had volunteered knowing that if push came to shove, they would be bait.

Axel was getting a feel for how the demons of the Dark Land did things, but it was still a foreign mindset to him. A good demon was constantly trying to do better, trying to get ahead in the world. It was possible to climb to dazzling heights… but possible to fall even faster. Yet for every fall, there was a comeback. A demon was never finished until he or she was dead. Not that all demons were driven by status… many just worked to perfect their crafts or make better lives for their mates and friends. But the ones on their expedition were the more adventurous or desperate ones, and they had little concern for their own lives. Three of them had already been lost to the wildlife, and no one really mourned. They had known the risks.

"Well, we like it too." Rude pointed out, and Axel shook his head, slogging off to look for Roxas. As pleasant as it would be to finally have sex with Roxas again, he just couldn't stomach the thought of doing it in midair. There were limits. When he found the blond, Roxas was sitting on one of the pack animals. Huge, reptilian beasts, they were rigged to carry all of the supplies out of the water. And the supplies were waterproofed anyway, in case one of the beasts got dunked. The death beasts avoided the beasts of burden and Axel had been told it was because their flesh was poisonous. That was why they were using this particular type of pack animal, even though they had a filthy temper and worse hearing. Axel slammed a fist into this one's nose as it tried to bite him.

"Hey Axel." Roxas said tiredly, and Axel smiled. The short blond was like Sora… he was getting to rest on the pack animals at times. He looked ready to fall asleep on this one, but that would be a bad idea. If it decided to rid itself of him during the night, he would be all too likely to drown.

"Hey Roxas. C'mon, time to get rigged up." Roxas sighed but slid off the animal. It snorted but didn't protest any further. Axel tilted his head to one side as he heard a couple sirens tiredly singing a lullaby, but he didn't listen too closely. They hadn't absorbed enough of the Dark Land's energy yet to be able to resist the siren songs.

"I love you Axel." Roxas said softly as they helped each other get on the harnesses. Axel paused a moment to steal a quick, gently kiss from the blond.

"Love you too, Roxas." Soon they were climbing the tree and fastening the ropes securely to a good, sturdy branch. The harness took almost all their weight, and the siren's song lured them into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

"Dry land! Thank the gods!" Sora collapsed onto the ground as Riku laughed… and a loud voice behind them swore.

"Shape up you lot! On your guard!" A rough edged female voice shouted, and Sora winced. That was Desdemona, the leader of the Rages and Blades that were accompanying them. Sora scrambled to his feet as she began to hammer the demons into something resembling a proper formation. He and Riku were under her command, and Axel and Roxas as well, so they quickly took their spots in the caravan. The only fighters in the group who didn't really answer to her were Froggy and Rude, but that was because it was their place to guard Rufus. Fortunately, nothing attacked as they were getting themselves back into formation. They were in the deep south now, and the pace of travel would slow a bit as Rufus began taking serious samples.

"Sora!" Riku abruptly grabbed his arm and yanked him back as she saw something stir on the tree he was standing near. Mandibles clashed on the ground as a worm like thing struck where he had been standing and sent a gout of dark fluid across the ground. Riku and Sora's keyblades slashed apart the worm easily, but Riku stared at the ground… the places that had been splashed by the black liquid were smoking. "If that stuff had touched you…" She felt nauseated. What would have happened to the brunette? Nothing good.

"Everyone! This is a perfect example of why you need to stay alert!" Desdemona strode up to them, looking over the carcass and drawing out a knife. "Rufus! You might want a sample of the venom." She tossed back her black hair, kneeling down beside the fallen worm creature and delicately cutting out the venom sacks. "This stuff is actually valuable. If you see more of these things, kill them." Rufus quickly put the sample in a jar, beaming.

"Thanks Riku." Riku smiled slightly as Sora blushed. "You always seem to be saving me."

"Don't worry. I'm sure you'll be saving me in here sometime." This place was certainly dangerous enough, and no one was perfect. Riku kissed him gently on the cheek for a moment before the caravan started moving again.

She had no idea how correct she was.

* * *

"So why are you here, anyway?" Axel asked Desdemona as he scanned the forest around them. She was interesting. A black skinned demon with inky black hair and white eyes, she was also a Heartless. But she clearly had full control over herself, despite that, and white fangs flashed as she smiled at him.

"That's quite a question. Which here are you referring to? The Dark Land, or this forest in particular?"

"I was thinking of the forest. But the other is interesting too." Axel admitted, and she laughed. For a Heartless, she seemed to have a fairly wide selection of emotions.

"Fortunately, being a Heartless, it doesn't bother me. I was captured by Organization XII. They were trying to make a powerful Heartless and Nobody, to recruit me, but it failed. My Nobody came out a lesser type and in the confusion, I escaped. I wandered around eating hearts and then one day I wondered… why? And then I was here." She shrugged. "It's a much better place to be. Demons aren't afraid of me. As for why I'm in this bush, I'm trying to get an edge on the competition. With the angels and demons at peace, we have to distinguish ourselves in other ways." She grinned then, licking her fangs. "I'm not a fuck up like Marty."

"Ah." That explained why she was so competent. Axel had found out that for a lot of demons, assassination and various plots were an accepted way to rise… but not among the Rages and Blades. Probably because they were the fighting type demons who, in the past, could always expect combat to open a few holes in the structure. He wondered a bit how that would change, but he wasn't going to be staying long enough to find out. The Dark Land was nice to visit, but he would never want to live there.

"My back itches." Roxas complained quietly, and Axel nodded.

"Mine too." It itched all the time, too. Desdemona laughed, a low, throaty sound.

"You're growing wings." Axel and Roxas both looked at her, startled.

"What, seriously?" Axel blinked, then… "Shit, how will my harness fit?" Their enchanted leather armor hadn't been designed with wings in mind. Desdemona shrugged, not particularly caring, and devoted her attention to the wildlife. Someone screamed and there was a slash as another worm tried to make off with someone. Then she spotted a wave from Rufus.

"Halt!" Her bellow brought the expedition to a ragged stop as Rufus paused to take an intriguing sample. "Go!" They started up again, and she spoke conversationally. "We'll be reaching our first way point soon. Things should get better then." Axel nodded. Demons did live in the far south, and they were theoretically under the High Lord's control… but only theoretically. They had a few stops planned at settlements that were noted as being friendly. There were plenty of other settlements in the brush, but they were to be avoided. They had developed their own savage customs, and Axel didn't want to see if some of the rumors he'd heard were true.

The only thing more dangerous than the wildlife of the Dark Lands was the demons.

* * *

Elsewhere, far away, back in the land of the real Kingdom Hearts…

_We're damned._ Ansem swallowed hard, gazing at the white beach and the blue water. The swimsuit he was wearing seemed like a mockery. Why had he ever come here? Was it masochism? A desire to have a taste of something he could never enjoy again? Was it-

A hand suddenly gripped his elbow and moved him to the water. Ansem blinked, glancing down at the impatient boy by his side. Yellow eyes in a pitch black face looked up at him imploringly and the hand yanked him towards the sea again.

_Oh. I came because Sora wanted to swim._ Ansem had to smile at his own foolishness, and nodded to the creature by his side. Sora smiled at him, and leaned forward to give him a quick peck on the cheek. His lips were cool and a little… gooey, like the skin was coated in Vaseline. But he was more than used to that, and touched Sora's shoulder, returning the affection with a quick nuzzle before they both ran into the water.

It still hurt, being here. Hurt more than anything… but he would do it for Sora. He would do anything for Sora. Anything at all.

* * *

Riku sighed, poking a hole in the sand as he thought. The mayor's portal to the Twisted World was already having interesting effects on the Destiny Islands. Riku wasn't sure they were positive effects, but that was progress. The shopkeepers certainly weren't complaining, and Sora's mother was happy as a clam. She had started a serious business making and selling guava cakes and paopu cookies and they were going like hotcakes. Not only that… five families had recently moved in from the mainland. That was more newcomers than he had seen his whole life, and it looked like the trend would only grow as the town grew larger to accommodate the tourists. In other words, the sleepy little town he'd grown up in was changing. It would never be the same, and Riku couldn't help but be sad to see it go.

"Woah, Riku, look at that!" Sora gaped at something on the beach and Riku lifted his head to look. They were engaged in their new hobby… people watching. With the amazing variety of people coming through the portal, it was always a fascinating pastime. Riku grinned as he spotted what Sora was looking at.

"Yes, very pretty. I dare you to go speak to her." He gently teased and Sora blushed. The object of Sora's regard was a petite, beautiful girl with rich blue skin, long black hair and butterfly wings. Her bikini left little to the imagination.

"That's not it. I wonder what race she is?" She looked a little like a faerie, but if so she was a type he'd never seen before. Riku shrugged, then blinked as he spotted someone wading into the water.

"Now that is really weird." He muttered. Sora followed his gaze and gasped.

"Ansem? Xehanort's heartless?" Sora looked ready to run down to the water, but Riku gripped his arm, shaking his head.

"Remember Yen Sid." Sora winced and stopped. That harsh lesson had been useful, in a lot of ways. A version of Xaldin had shown up already, but cautioned by what had happened before, they had just watched. Xaldin had done nothing interesting… he'd swum, got drunk and found a friend before leaving. Riku thought he hadn't been a Nobody at all. "Besides… that could be me, you know." Riku said softly, and Sora's eyes widened. He hadn't thought of that, but now that Riku had mentioned it it was obvious. He'd only gotten his true form back because of the explosion of DiZ's machine. If Riku had been out of range of it… "Wait, who's that with him? Is that a Heartless?" It sure looked like a Heartless, but it was splashing in the water… and… Riku swallowed. It looked like Sora. "We might need to check this out."

"You know, the mayor ought to pay us for this." Sora said as they stepped away from the trees onto the sand. Riku grinned. They had unofficially nominated themselves as the people to keep an eye on the crowds and the portal and keep the Destiny Islands safe.

"Come on, you enjoy it. Besides, if he knew what we were up to he'd probably pay us a penny, then fire us." Sora laughed at that. Knowing the mayor and his sense of humor, it was probably true.

* * *

"Sora, I wish you wouldn't do that." Ansem said plaintively to the water, although he knew Sora couldn't hear. The boy was swimming underwater for far longer than anyone should. He knew the Heartless body didn't need to breath, but it was still disconcerting. Shaking his head, he started to dive-

And stopped as a hand touched his shoulder.

"Um?" He turned his head leisurely, then made a garbled, incoherent sound as he stared into blue eyes. "N-No… Sora?" He felt sick, about to faint, as he saw the pale skin and the chocolate hair and the eyes that were perfectly right and normal and… and everything… "Oh darkness. Sora, I'm so sorry!"

"Huh?" Sora hadn't been sure what he'd been expecting when he accosted Xehanort's heartless… but it hadn't been for the man to burst into tears and then run away. "…Wait! Riku, is that you?" He called after the departing man, but he ran onto the beach and then vanished into the crowd. "…"

"I think that could have gone better." Riku said thoughtfully, staring after. "I think that's me, but what is he sorry for? Ah!" Abruptly, a Heartless surfaced between the two of them. Riku called in the Way to Dawn without thought and slashed down-

To find it parried with the Kingdom Key held by a black hand. He stared, shocked, as a black version of Sora made an angry face at him. It pushed his blade away and followed after Ansem, pausing just long enough to make an exceedingly rude gesture at the two of them. Sora and Riku both gaped as it vanished into the crowd.

"Okay… what IS this?" Sora asked wonderingly. Riku sighed, then shrugged.

"The Islands get weirder every day." It was a little disheartening.


	15. OW God my Ears!

Ansem pressed his face into his hands as he sat against the wall in the special place, the cave he and Sora had used to meet. The place where everything had begun to go wrong.

He was really Riku, of course. Taking the name Ansem was to fool himself as much as anyone else… a way to insulate himself from all the poor choices he had made. It didn't really help most of the time, but it also seemed fitting, given the way his body worked. And DiZ was dead and gone, so no one cared in any case. Besides… it was a good punishment for his mistakes. His crimes.

"Why? Why why why?" He muttered to himself in the low, deep voice that wasn't his own and never would be again. "Why did he have to be here, why did he have to come to me? Why?" If only he'd never seen Sora that way… the way he should have been, bright and light and belonging in the sun. Not cursed with the darkness.

A hand patted his shoulder urgently, and Ansem lifted his head to look into golden eyes. Pupilless, Heartless eyes that nonetheless managed to convey concern. He managed to tilt the corners of his lips up in a shaky smile for that concern.

"I'm okay." He assured his best friend. Sora didn't look at all convinced, but sat down beside him, wrapping his arms around him. Ansem shivered at the touch… it was light and airy as well as cold, as if Sora could vanish at any moment. But he leaned into it and felt Sora's more solid core supporting him. He wasn't worthy of this touch. He wasn't worthy of anything.

Ansem could still remember that horrible mistake. The moment that had cost Sora his life… all his fault. Kairi's scream, the pain of failure, grief and a raw, anguished rage that had denied the truth. Denied it with such force that he had ripped up the darkness, summoning the power Maleficent had given him to control the Heartless and caught Sora's essence into a body of shadow and dark echoes. He looked like a Heartless and in many ways he was a Heartless… but he had a heart and soul. Trapped in a body formed of nothing but darkness. Sometimes, Ansem thought he should just release the boy, let his heart and soul fly free… but whenever he suggested it his friend slapped him and shook a finger in front of his face. But that didn't help, because the worst part was that he couldn't _trust_ Sora.

Ansem shuddered faintly as he remembered the first few weeks with his new Sora. He'd had to use every bit of power in himself to maintain and control Sora as the boy learned to cope with his new body… and maybe went a bit mad in the process. There was no way to communicate with him, not really, so Ansem couldn't be sure. Sora couldn't use pencils or pens… they broke in his hands… and keyboards were hard for him too. They communicated mostly through body language now, but that meant Ansem had no idea what Sora's mental state really was. He seemed to be coping well now, but how could he tell? Sora didn't need to sleep the way he did. Those first few weeks, Sora had kept trying to devour hearts. If he did that now, how would Ansem know?

Reminding himself firmly that his suspicions were completely unfounded, Ansem closed his eyes and sniffed.

"Sora, I'm so sorry." He whispered to the darkling boy holding him, and the grip on him tightened for a moment before a soft, cold hand stroked his hair. "So sorry."

No matter how many times he said that, it would never be enough.

Finally taking a deep breath, he pulled away, wiping his eyes with one hand. He couldn't cry here forever. If nothing else, he would look like a fool. Smiling slightly at the thought, Ansem pulled himself to his feet. It was a moonless night tonight and this deep in the cavern he was almost blind, but it didn't matter. With his connection to darkness and his knowledge of the cave he should be fine. He set out at a brisk walk-

And gasped harshly as one foot suddenly hit nothing. Scrambling desperately, he tried to save himself but only managed to grab a fistful of dirt before he fell into the hole. His descent ended in a horrible, snapping sound that made him scream.

"Sh-shit!" Grunting, he tried to cast cure and found that he couldn't. Cure was a spell of the light, and the things he'd needed to do to keep Sora with him had dragged him too far into the darkness. Not to mention… Ansem pushed that memory away hastily. There was no time to think of that. There was a sliding sound and Sora was beside him, fluttering around him anxiously. Sora's dark body was just too weak to carry him, and they both knew it. "That hole, where…" Ansem stopped, mentally cursing himself. It had been years since he'd been in this cave. If a sink-hole had developed, how would he have known? "My leg is broken." It was trapped under him and sweat beaded on his forehead at the pain of it. Ansem considered his options, and groaned. He couldn't see well enough to figure out a way out of this hole… and there was every chance he wouldn't be able to manage it in any case. "Sora…" He stopped as he realized his dark friend was gone. Gone to get help? But who could he get help from? Even in the Twisted World, they had no friends. Ansem wasn't a friendly person, and Sora… the Twisted World might tolerate his bizarre nature, but that didn't mean anyone wanted to be close to him. Ya Tashra's spells kept any normal Heartless out, but Sora was just different enough to be allowed in. But the Destiny Islands wasn't the Twisted World… who was going to help a Heartless?

Either way, though, it didn't matter. He'd be able to evaluate the situation better in daylight. The cave was fairly deep but light still reached this far… if he had to climb out of the pit with a broken leg, he'd find a way. Even if he had to step through the darkness to do it.

Comforted by that thought, he closed his eyes and tried to meditate to lessen the pain. He had learned to meditate very well, over the years.

It helped control the darkness.

* * *

Riku was sleeping deeply when the tapping on his window started. At first, he was oblivious to it… but when the catch to his window popped free and the window slid up, battle hardened instincts snapped him into awareness.

"HEY!" He jerked up, suddenly wide-awake and seeing a dark form squirming through his window. He jumped forward and slammed the window down in what had to be a painful blow before flipping on his light switch. "…" A dark version of Sora looked up at him pathetically, caught half in and half out of the window. Big golden tears slid down his cheeks. "What are you doing here?" Riku's eyes narrowed as he called up the Way to Dawn, but the little Heartless only squirmed and shook his head. Then, in a display of frustration, the dark Sora gripped his hair spikes and tugged on them. Riku blinked, tilting his head as he understood. "Oh… you can't talk?" The anti-Sora nodded, a few more golden tears slipping down his cheeks. Riku hesitated a moment, considering what to do… and finally lifted the window. "I'm letting you in, but if you try anything…" He gestured threateningly with the Way to Dawn, and dark Sora nodded, slipping into the room and fidgeting, glancing around. "Now what do you… hey!" Riku said sharply as the Heartless darted out the door.

He followed dark Sora to the bathroom, and watched, baffled, as the creature slammed the door shut and the water started to run. When the door popped open a while later, a mist of hot air blew out and Sora gripped his hand, dragging him in. Riku glanced around, baffled… then his gaze stopped abruptly on the bathroom mirror.

_HELP RIKU FOLLOW ME._ The letters were shaky but recognizable, and Riku's gaze shot back to the Heartless, who was looking at him soulfully.

"Your Riku is in trouble?" The anti-Sora nodded, hard. "…Okay. We'll get Sora and- ow!" Riku rubbed himself with a frown where the anti had pinched him. "No Sora? Why not?" The dark Sora looked back at the mirror and tried to add a few words on the bottom. Riku watched, fascinated… its touch seemed almost insubstantial. No wonder it had so much trouble communicating.

_MAKE RIKU SAD._ Riku blinked, but remembered how his double, who looked like Ansem, had reacted when he saw Sora. That did make sense.

"Alright. I'll follow you… behind you, and if you try anything…" Riku didn't finish the threat, and the anti-Sora just nodded impatiently, darting out of the bathroom. Riku gripped the Way to Dawn tightly as he followed the Heartless.

It might look like Sora, but that meant nothing at all. He wasn't going to trust it just yet.

Sora led him directly to the cavern, the special place, and Riku frowned as he heard something. A voice? As they went into the cavern, it became clearer, and he blinked. Someone was singing? It didn't sound at all like him… but it did sound like Ansem. And the song wasn't one he had ever heard before.

_Victory was not mine to have,_

_It came to other men._

_No daring feats in foreign streets,_

_No history making pen._

_The ship I sailed was lost in fog,_

_Some distance from the coast._

_Of all the things I've lost this year,_

_I miss my heart the most._

Riku's eyes widened a bit at the sad song. This person had to be him… the song was so perfect for his time in the darkness. He swallowed hard as he and Sora used the sound to pinpoint the location of the singer.

_I broke my back on bottom's rack,_

_Like this my time was sold._

_Like every moment was the last,_

_I spent my Fool's Gold._

_Wasted now the passing years,_

_Of little I can boast._

_Of all the things I've lost this year,_

_I miss my heart the most._

Riku found the edge of the sink hole and wasn't really surprised. The hole had formed only a year ago… if his other self hadn't been here recently, he wouldn't have known about it. It was easy to stumble into in the dark. Riku hesitated, and called up a bit of fire magic to light his way. It showed him the sink hole and the man lying on the bottom, his leg twisted under him at an unnatural angle.

_When spring was young I had a thirst,_

_For standing proud and tall._

_I drank the summers full of wine,_

_And fell right into fall._

_Winter's chill with vengeance came,_

_And proved a cruel host._

_Of all the things I've lost this year,_

_I miss my heart the most._

The song stopped abruptly as the anti-Sora slid down and bopped the singer on the head with a closed fist. He jerked up, then groaned softly, blinking yellow eyes at the sudden light.

"Sora. What have you…" He looked up and paled as he met Riku's eyes. "Ah. You're here to help me?" Riku tilted his head at the man's tone. He sounded… wary.

"I am. Is there a problem with that?" Riku said abruptly, and Ansem hesitated, then smiled tiredly.

"No. But I've learned not to trust help." Riku winced, but nodded. He could empathize with that feeling. He'd felt that way when he'd finally realized how much Maleficent was using him for her own purposes. But…

"It's not like you have much choice at the moment." Riku slid down the sink-hole, and began casting cure. The man groaned in pain as the spell took effect, and Riku glanced up, startled. Cure usually didn't hurt… not like that. "Are you okay?"

"The light… burns." He said through gritted teeth, and Riku's eyes widened. The light had never burned him, even when he had been in Ansem's form. How far gone to the darkness was this version of himself? Then Riku frowned as he looked at the leg. Cure wasn't working very well, either. The bone was set but he didn't think it was very strong.

"Sora, can you grip his arm as I pull him up?" Riku asked the Heartless, which hesitated, then nodded. Ansem lifted his head with a frown.

"He's not very strong, Riku." He cautioned the silver hair, but Riku only shrugged.

"He won't have to be." With a bit of careful work, they managed to get Ansem out of the pit… but that left another problem. "Can you walk?" Ansem hesitated, testing his leg… then winced.

"Yes, but…" He hesitated a moment, then sighed and called in his keyblade. Riku stared at the blade. It was like Soul Eater, but… worse. There was no hint of red or white to the blade, only lightless darkness, and they eye in the hilt was gold. Ansem used the blade as a crutch, trying to put no weight at all on his injured leg. "I'll be fine. Let's go." Riku was silent for a time as they walked, but… he had to ask.

"What happened to the two of you?" Sora looked back at him, and Riku could see an unbearable sadness in the Heartless' face. Ansem paused, his head down, grey hair shielding his face.

"My failure and foolish pride." Then he shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Nothing matters but the consequences." Riku wanted to ask more questions, but couldn't. Not while Sora was looking at him so pleadingly.

"Come to my house for the night. You're in no condition to go back through the portal." Ansem paused for a moment, thinking about it, then nodded his acceptance. The home with the portal would be closed for the night anyway, and he was certainly not capable of breaking and entering at the moment. And… the Twisted World wasn't necessarily a safe place when you were obviously hurt. Especially not on the first level, where he and Sora lived.

It would be much safer to stay here for a time, no matter how painful it was.

* * *

Elsewhere…

"Fuck!" Riku grunted, trying to wiggle out of her bonds. It wasn't going well. How had things gone so badly wrong?

The whole splitting up to get more samples had not been a good idea. But the native guilds had sworn the area was relatively safe from other demons. Wildlife, they were giving no guarantees with. Clearly, some of the other demons had vehemently disagreed. Riku's group, the smaller of the two, had been ambushed and a bunch of them kidnapped. Riku could only hope Sora was alright. He hadn't been feeling well, some kind of stomach flu, so he'd been with the larger group.

The demons had dragged them to a makeshift encampment with a large firepit and an idol in the centre. To add insult to injury, they'd separated the men and the women… and Riku was with the men. Not that she wanted to be raped. From the sounds of what was happening over there, that was exactly what was occurring. But apparently these particular demons weren't into gay sex, because even the pretty boys were being left untouched. Riku could only hope no one would-

Her thoughts slithered to a halt as one of the male demons was yanked away from them by his ropes. He was a Blade, and accepted the indignity calmly, but Riku could see the fury, hate and fear in his eyes as their captors began disrobing him. They did it the simplest and most effective way… by cutting away his clothes, leaving the ropes intact. The Blade suddenly lashed out as they dragged him towards the idol, catching one of his captors in the crotch with both feet. But he was hobbled and couldn't run, and they soon had him lying across a makeshift altar. Riku's eyes widened as she saw the obsidian knife one of them was holding. This was like something out of a bad dream, a nightmare, a horror movie… surely they couldn't mean to…

The scream was sickening, and Riku felt like vomiting as she saw the blood go spurting. And then something was tossed into the fire and she did throw up as the heart sizzled in the flames. She wasn't alone in that, and she glanced over at Marty. He was further down the line, and was looking absolutely ill. But there was nothing he could do. The demons had realized what he was and had taken special precautions, gagging and tying him more tightly than any of the others.

They came for her next, and Riku flailed helplessly as she was dragged out. But when they disrobed her, the demon holding the knife paused, surprised, and barked something to the others who laughed. She couldn't understand the language they were using. The Dark Land had a common tongue with the Land of Light, so these demons must have specifically created their own language so outsiders couldn't understand them. A battle tongue?

Whatever they were saying, they had clearly finally noticed she was a girl. Riku shivered violently as the demon holding her fondled her tiny breasts, then patted her thoughtfully on the bottom. The demon with the knife said something else, and her captors began dragging her over to the other women. Riku had never imagined she could feel so shiveringly grateful at the prospect of imminent rape. But anything was better than having her heart torn out and thrown into a fire.

She was flung down roughly on the barren earth, a demon looming over her. If the situation hadn't been what it was, he would have been handsome. Pale skin, hair as red as Axel's but longer and braided in places. Dark violet eyes scrutinized her thoughtfully, and then he grinned, kneeling down and shoving her legs apart. Riku grunted, anger rekindling… she wasn't going to go down without a fight… and tried to knee him in the crotch. But he evaded the strike easily and pinned her down, fondling her breasts for a moment. She could feel his erection pressed tightly against her belly and wanted to throw up again. Yes, she didn't want her heart torn out but she really didn't want to be raped either…

Then there was a sound of weapons on weapons, and a shout. The demon on her abruptly let go and pulled away, grabbing a weapon and dashing out. Riku could only watch as a bloody melee began as Desdemona led a charge, screaming a violent war cry. How had they found them so fast? The demons had covered their tracks fairly well… but Riku wasn't about to question her good fortune.

As she watched the battle, she caught a few glimpses of Axel, and thought she understood. Axel and Roxas had been with their smaller group, and Roxas had been taken while Axel had been one of the few who had escaped capture. She knew about the blood bond and how it could be used to sense location… Axel had gone to the main group and led them directly back. Now if only someone would-

"Riku!" Riku looked up with a brilliant smile as Sora slashed through her bonds, paying no attention to her nakedness. "C'mon, we're getting you out of here!"

"Thank you so much Sora!" She called in her keyblade and began helping him free the others. Soon all the women were moving, ignoring their injuries and grabbing anything that would serve as a weapon to exact revenge. Riku grinned to herself. If the demon women caught any of their rapists alive, it would be a long, protracted revenge.

But there was no time for that, and as soon as the captives were free the group was moving out. There were far too many of these strange demons, more than there should have been. As they ran through the jungle, they heard a song starting behind them.

"Sirens!" Marty cursed. Siren song was a potent weapon when there were many sirens to contribute, and they could hear the lower counterpoint of banshees as well. It was building up to something, they could all feel it. But…

"Fuck that!" Riku said with a snarl, and held out a hand. "Sora, give me your keyblade!" Startled, Sora handed it over. "Everyone, if you have anything to put in your ears do it NOW!" Started but willing to take her word for it, Desdemona bellowed the same thing so all the demons could hear. Riku had nothing for herself, and resigned herself to at least a week of deafness. Then she began casting a spell.

It was something she'd come up with herself, back when she was in the darkness and feeling particularly nasty. She'd demonstrated it once on her Sora during that time… it was the only time he'd actually called her a bitch. The two keyblades began to vibrate like tuning forks, and when the vibrations were actually painful, she suddenly clashed them together.

_**WHUMWHUMWHUMWHUMWHUM**_ Riku's head felt like it might explode as the sound erupted. Demons shrieked and gripped their head in pain, and Marty actually fainted. When she pulled the blades apart, the siren song behind them had fallen into a stunned silence. It tried to start again, but with a ragged note, and she brought the keyblades together again. _**WHUM**_

There was no pursuit after that.


	16. Marty is a Pervert

"Roxas." Axel groaned, closing his eyes and resting his forehead on the pillow. "Roxas, stop teasing me." He was kneeling in front of Roxas, and the blond was stroking him in front as he slowly opened him with one finger. But it was all going too slowly… Axel was sure he could have taken two or three fingers by now if Roxas had been less hesitant.

"I don't want to hurt you." It was the first time Roxas had tried being on top. Axel opened his eyes and looked over his shoulder to grin at Roxas, making the blond blush.

"Roxas, I got taught how to be on the bottom by Mongo. He's fucking huge. You're not going to hurt me, but you might kill me if you don't get on with it." Axel gasped as Roxas replaced one finger with two, searching for his special spot… and finding it, making him jerk his hips in reaction. "Ah… yes…" Tempted beyond endurance by the way Axel was softly moaning, Roxas pulled his fingers away and started to ease himself inside Axel's tight entrance. It felt so damn good, the way Axel's walls tightened around him and Roxas gasped, gripping Axel's hips tightly as he waited for Axel to adjust. "What… are you… waiting for…?" Taking a deep, shuddering breath, Roxas began to thrust into that tight heat.

"Roxas." Axel said softly, then muffled a cry by biting onto the pillow. "Roxas, faster, harder, ah…" Roxas responded, taking him more roughly, every thrust hitting his sweet spot as his hands stroked Axel's erection in time with his thrusts. There was the soft, slapping sound of flesh against flesh and breathy groans from Axel as Roxas took him to the edge… then they both went over it in a moment of pure bliss. Axel muffled his cry again, then relaxed, breathing heavily. Roxas nuzzled his throat for a moment before pulling away.

"Are you sure that was okay…?" Roxas sounded worried, and Axel blinked, turning around to lie on his back. Roxas slid down beside him, fitting comfortably in his arms.

"Okay? It was great." Roxas didn't look convinced, and Axel frowned, searching his face as he tried to figure out the source of his uneasiness. "Roxas, what's wrong?"

"It's just…" Roxas sighed, running a hand through his hair. "You're… you're usually more vocal than that." Axel blinked, then grinned.

"Oh Roxas. That's because I was mentally scarred just yesterday." Roxas blinked, confused, and Axel explained. "We've got Larry the leccubi in the tent to our left and Marty to our right. I'd rather not have either of them jacking off to the sound of my screaming, thank you very much." Roxas paled, and gripped his hair spikes, shaking his head.

"Argh! That's a horrible image! I need mental bleach… how do you know they would do that?" He asked and Axel grinned tiredly.

"Caught Marty at it outside Sora's and Riku's tent. Apparently, Riku screams a lot." Roxas winced. "And Marty had no shame at all. Offered to let me do him right there. In all fairness, I don't know if Larry would do that, but he's a leccubi." Leccubi were fairly common sexual demons… unlike incubi or succubi, they were capable of changing their gender. And they weren't really noted for having much shame either, although Larry wasn't the worst sort for that. He certainly wasn't as bad as Marty. Axel still wouldn't have put it past him.

"I need to kill Marty, painfully." Roxas grumbled, and Axel shrugged.

"He is what he is." Marty wasn't being malicious about it… he was just a completely perverted demon. "Don't worry about it." Axel slid a hand through Roxas' hair, pulling him into a deep, passionate kiss.

They were halfway towards their final goal… which was a safe return to the city and then, the Twisted World. Axel had never imagined he could look forward to seeing the Twisted World again so much. Was it really his home? Thinking about it, he thought… it was. He could live other places, but nothing matched the insane cosmopolitan air of the Twisted World. Certainly he didn't want to stay in the Dark Lands. They'd killed numerous animals and taken a ton of all kinds of specimens. Axel was awed by some of the things they'd killed… the huge dinosaur thing had almost been a disaster for the caravan, but Desdemona had taken care of it. By letting it eat her and cutting her way out from inside. Heartless like her could be scary as hell.

Casualties, he'd been told, had been fairly light for this kind of expedition… but they'd still lost almost twenty demons. No one really important, thankfully. Axel winced at the callousness of that thought, but he knew the demons themselves would agree. Blades in particular were designated as cannon fodder, and the sexual demons weren't much better. Sirens and Rages were a touch higher on the pecking order. The officers, like Marty and Desdemona, and all the people from the Twisted World were considered the elite, important members of the expedition. None of them had been lost yet, although it had been a near thing a few times.

"Axel?" Roxas sighed softly in his ear. "What are we going to do when we get back to the Twisted World?" They would have money then, quite a bit of money, but no real plans. Axel smiled, gently holding Roxas close.

"Well, for starters we can go have sea salt ice cream, have a great meal at whatever the chowhounds are recommending, then get drunk at the World's End Tavern." Roxas gave him a slightly exasperated look, and Axel sighed. "I know… that's not what you mean. Well." Axel nuzzled Roxas' throat, breathing in his scent. Roxas always smelled so good. "First, we should check to see if the portal to your world is open." Roxas frowned at that.

"Axel… I'm really not sure I want to go back. Especially if it will put Sora in danger." Roxas said slowly, and Axel shrugged.

"I'm not too keen on it either, really. But you have family there, and they probably think you're dead you know." Roxas winced, but that was quite likely correct… and he did care about his brothers. "We should let them know you're okay. But I bet we'll find the portal is still closed. So… we can see about getting a job. Maybe caravan guard for one of the big trade missions, that would be nice. Although… I do have a dream…" Axel sighed, shaking his head. "But it's about as likely as the Dark Lands freezing over."

"Oh? What is it?" Roxas asked curiously and Axel shrugged, a bit embarrassed.

"Promise you won't laugh?" Roxas nodded. "I would like to start a library in the Twisted World. It doesn't have one, and it could really do with one, in my opinion. But the money needed to do something like that…" Axel shook his head. The prices of land in the Twisted World were never small, and everything else would be expensive too. "It's a pipe dream."

"Unless you can find a sponser. Maybe even Ya Tashra…?" Roxas yawned sleepily. Axel laughed softly, shaking his head.

"I don't even know how to get an audience with him. Maybe I'll ask Rufus." It was worth a try, at least. "Now… we better get some sleep." The caravan would leave bright and early, and if they were tired, too bad. Roxas nodded, closing his eyes and immediately dozing off. Axel followed a moment later.

They were used to sleeping when and where they could.

* * *

_The darkness was so cold. I could see nothing at all, as I pushed deeper into it… only the intensifying cold told me I was going the right way._

_If you go far enough into the darkness… if you dare… there is a place where mere dark becomes ebony. The very essence of darkness. It's colder than anything you can dream of, utterly soulless… but pure. Heartless cannot exist here. They are corrupted hearts… this purity would destroy them. That was what happened to Ansem, Xehanort, in his folly. Kingdom Hearts is ebony…_

_So beautiful. I've come so far. Can I go any further or will it destroy me too? I'm not pure but the darkness caresses me like a lover, it fills me and cleanses my heart. But it makes my sanity creak and my soul ache. I'm only mortal, how long can I bear this?_

_I must. I must bear this. Only in ebony can I find what I need for Sora. Oh darkness, it's beginning to hurt. But I have to go farther, I have to go as far as I can before my soul threatens to shatter. Something wet is traveling down my face. Is my skin breaking?_

_It doesn't matter. I need to go farther…_

* * *

Ansem awoke with a start to see a dark, concerned face looking down at him. He was sleeping on Riku's couch, and Sora was lying on his chest. The Heartless didn't need to sleep, but seemed to like just being with him while he did. At least… Ansem thought so. Sora was always there when he awoke, but how would he know if he went somewhere else during the night?

Quickly shelving that thought, Ansem smiled reassuringly at Sora. "It's alright. Just a nightmare." Sora didn't look particularly reassured, but nodded, snuggling against his chest. Ansem closed his eyes, thinking for a long moment. It was a nightmare… but a nightmare of what had happened and what would continue to happen. There was no way to avoid it.

It had been a trip to the Worlds End Tavern that had taught him about the Midnight Wine. Condensed darkness, utterly pure, it could be used to sustain greater Heartless without the need for any hearts. It even seemed to help balance them, make them more… human. It couldn't completely uncorrupt them, since they had already parted ways with their bodies and souls, but still. It worked wonders.

For him and Sora, the discovery had been a godsend… but the stuff was hideously expensive. Ansem had managed, after much research, to find out how it was made and why it was that expensive. People like himself, who were deeply connected to the darkness yet, had very strong hearts and souls, needed to venture as deep in the dark as they could to gather the pure essence of the darkness in special containers. Such people could make a very good living supplying the greater Heartless who happened to wash up in the Twisted World.

Unfortunately, because of his strange condition, Sora needed more of it than most Heartless. It was all he could do to keep Sora supplied… and himself, to a lesser degree. Ansem wasn't sure what drinking the pure darkness did to him, but the fact was that he could survive for an entire day on a single sip, without feeling hungry or thirsty. An entire small glass made him feel… good, energized, as well as sated. He had resorted to it more than once, when they had no money left.

"Money." Ansem sighed to himself, resting a hand on his forehead. Money was the bane of their existence. A flea infested, tiny room in what was almost the worst part of town… not quite the worst, but almost, the very top of the twelfth level. The only thing cheaper would have been the thirteenth or the first… because they were dangerous. The world itself could peel and flake spontaneously in those areas, and if you were unlucky that was a death sentence. Food in the Twisted World wasn't terribly expensive but it was easiest to do without, when he was having trouble making the rent. Which was most of the time. Briefly, Ansem wished he was still beautiful, young Riku. Then he could have at least sold his body. But although Ansem was handsome enough, in a completely different way, it was an intimidating, hard edged handsomeness. Not that he wanted to sell his body… but it would have been an easy way to pay the bills.

Sora was looking at him in concern again, and Ansem smiled at him, running a hand through his soft, almost smoky hair for a moment. He didn't like to lay these concerns on Sora. He was sure the Heartless understood the problem… but there was simply nothing Sora could do to help.

"Let's go." Ansem said in a soft whisper. It was early morning, so early that no one was awake. He stood carefully, and found that his leg was strong enough to stand on… the cure spells and his own natural resilience had strengthened the bone considerably. He'd found that he healed extremely quickly now, which was rather worrying. Ansem wondered, sometimes, how far into the darkness he had fallen and how much he was changing. But there was no point in worrying about it. For now, he preferred to be safely gone before Riku's family woke up and found him here. He didn't want to have to explain his condition… or more importantly, Sora's.

He had to take it slow leaving, but that was just as well. By the time they reached the portal the house was open for visitors and they were able to easily go back and begin the walk back to the twelfth level. Ansem was indifferent to the sights and beauty of the Twisted World. It was a haven, but it lost its charm quickly when you were penniless.

If only he could think of a way to change that…

* * *

"Fuckity fuck fuck fuck!" Froggy was swearing mightily, and for very good reason but with a certain lack of creatively. Rude sighed as he helped pick the thorns out of her flesh. They were very long, very sharp and hollow… meant to suck out the blood of anyone they touched. Fortunately, Froggy's screams had brought a ton of help to get her out of the bushes and now Rufus was happily taking some more samples.

"Can't you at least come up with a new curse word?" Axel muttered as he carefully worked out several long thorns on her legs, and almost got kicked in the face for his trouble. "Froggy! Stop being such a bitch." Her fresh torrent of profanity was a lot more creative, although Axel blinked at some of it. "Hamster fucker? Really…" Rude laughed, patting Froggy on the head as he kept working on her back. Froggy herself was taking care of her arms, and Marty was wordlessly casting healing spells whenever she managed to clear an area.

It took a while, but finally they were done, and Froggy was just breathing heavily. She took a deep drink from her canteen before apologizing to them.

"I'm sorry, Rude, Axel… that just hurt like a complete bitch. Felt like those things were coated in acid." Axel glanced down at the thorns on the ground and nodded… he wasn't at all surprised by that. They were very big and had some kind of green paste on them. Marty had said it was a paralytic poison, but he'd already cleaned it out of Froggy.

"Don't fall in bushes anymore." Rude advised, and Froggy glared at him before pulling out a cigarette and lighting it with a shaking hand.

"Gonna castrate all the pack animals as soon as we get back. If they're not gelded already." It had been an out of control pack animal that had dumped her in the bushes, which had been deceptively normal until skin had touched them. They weren't sure what had freaked out the animal, but it had finally stopped and was behaving as if nothing had happened now. Froggy relaxed a little as the smoke hit her system. "I think I'm fine now."

"You sure? You lost a bit of blood." More than a bit, really. There was quite a lot of splatters on the ground, but fortunately the bushes hadn't hit any really important spots before they'd started tearing them to pieces. Froggy nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Although I wouldn't say no to something to eat." Rude nodded and went to get some of the preserved food from one of the cooks. The caravan slowly started moving again as he brought back a piece of smoked sausage, an onion and a fresh fruit from one of the trees they had passed just this morning. "Thanks Rude." Froggy bit into the onion with relish, and Rude winced, then laughed.

"This explains your breath!" Froggy snorted at that, polishing off her onion like most people would eat an apple.

"Your breath is no bouquet of roses either, Rude." Axel grinned. Something in the Dark Lands had had an interesting effect on the toothpaste they'd brought with them, so no one had really great breath anymore. Although the demons recommended chewing a plant gum when you really wanted to impress someone. It tasted terrible, so mostly they weren't bothering. It wasn't like lack of toothpaste would kill them.

Elsewhere, Sora and Riku were sitting on top of another pack beast. It wasn't their usual place, but Riku had learned how to manage the animals and the usual handler had been eaten by something just yesterday. So she was taking his place part of the time… a Rage who knew the animals would take over from her a bit later. And Sora was just along for the ride. His weight wasn't going to harm the beast any.

"Riku?" Sora said dreamily as they rode through the jungle. He was staying alert, though, and watching the trees around them. The killer worms wouldn't hesitate to grab someone off a pack beast. That was how they'd lost the last handler.

"Yeah, Sora?" Riku swore and slapped the pack beast as it tried to stop to eat something particularly toothsome. Then she glanced up sharply, making sure nothing had been missed in that brief moment.

"I was wondering…" Sora hesitated. This wasn't really a romantic setting. On the other hand… he really wanted to know. "…I… um… in general… I mean, not specifically at this moment willyoumarryme?" He blurted out in one breath of air. He knew that if anyone from his homeworld had heard that… well, expect maybe Roxas… they would have said it was ridiculously soon. He'd only known Riku for a few months. But somehow… he was sure she was the one. Riku was completely stiff for a moment.

"Sora… if you mean that…" Riku suddenly laughed, high and breathless. "I'd marry you right now." Sora blushed lightly and hugged her from behind… while still keeping an eye out for worms. It would be truly ironic if they were eaten at this moment. "It's… too soon though. We could have an engagement?"

"That sounds great!" Sora beamed, giving her a quick kiss before the pack beast tried to bite another, and Riku had to hit it again, this time with the flat side of her keyblade.

"Talk about it later." Right now, they really had to keep alert… but just the little bit they had discussed made Riku feel all fuzzy inside. She'd never expected to get married… well, ever. It was nice to realize that Sora thought she was worth it.

Very nice indeed.


End file.
